Method and system for ink data generation, ink data rendering, ink data manipulation and ink data communication

ABSTRACT

A method implemented by a transmission device to communicate with multiple reception devices that respectively share a drawing area with the transmission device is provided. The transmission device transmits to the multiple reception devices vector-data ink data representative of traces of input operation detected by an input sensor of the transmission device. The method includes: (a) an ink data generation step of generating fragmented data of a stroke object, wherein the stroke object contains multiple point objects to represent a trace formed by a pointer, the fragmented data being generated per defined unit T, and generating a drawing style object; (b) a message formation step of generating messages including the drawing style object and the fragmented data; and (c) a transmission step of transmitting the messages.

BACKGROUND

Technical Field

The present invention is directed to methods and systems for generating,rendering, manipulating and communicating ink data that reproduces apath of hand-drawn (freehand) stroke data and renders the path withstyle.

Description of the Related Art

Various handwriting input systems are known, which allow a user to inputhand-drawn (or freehand) data by using a pen-shaped device. For example,electromagnetic resonance type pen-tablet input systems are known, whichallow input of hand-drawn data including associated pen pressure and pentilt data. As further examples, electrostatic type pen input systems areknown, which generate capacitance between an implement and a (tablet)sensor surface similarly to how capacitance is created between a fingerand the sensor surface. Still further, input systems that outputrelatively simple information such as gesture information derived from acollection of determined positions are also known.

Typically, hand-drawn data or stroke (path or trace) data inputted by apen-shaped implement is usable in a single drawing application togenerate raster data such as pixel data or image data. A need exists formethods and systems that permit hand-drawn data or stroke data generatedby operating a variety of types of devices and applications, such as inkmessaging, ink archiving and retrieval applications, e-mail, photoannotation, remote video conferencing applications, etc., to be sharedamongst various devices. Digital ink or ink data (hereinafter “inkdata”) is proposed to address such need. Typically raster data such asdirect pixel data or image data is used, which is generated according tothe setting of a particular application used to support a user's strokeinput operation on an input device. The ink data, on the other hand, isintermediate data, which exists prior to rasterization of stroke dataand which is in the form of vector data usable by a variety ofapplications. Sample ink data types are described in the followingnon-patent literature DOCUMENTS (D1) through (D4):

-   (D1) W3C, Recommendation 20, September 2011, “Ink Markup Language    (InkML)” (URL—http://www.w3.org/TR/2011/REC-InkML-20110920/)-   (D2) Microsoft Corporation, et al., “Ink Serialized Format    Specification” 2007    (URL—http//download.microsoft.com/download/0/B/E/0BE8BDD7-E5E8-422A-ABFD-4342ED7AD886/InkSerializedFormat(ISF)Specification.pdf)-   (D3) W3C Working Draft 11, February 2014, “Scalable Vector Graphics    (SVG) 2” (URL—http://www.w3.org/TR/SVG2/); W3C Recommendation, 16    Aug. 2011, “Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) 1.1 (Second Edition)”    (URL—http://www.w3.org/TR/2011/REC-SVG11-201110816/)-   (D4) W3C, “HTML5 A vocabulary and associated APIs for HTML and XHTML    W3C Recommendation 28 Oct. 2014” (URL—http://www.w3.org/TR/html5/)-   (D5) Slate Corporation, et al., “JOT—A Specification for an Ink    Storage and Interchange Format”, Version 1.0, September 1996

Briefly, the InkML (D1) and ISF (D2) data structures represent strokedata inputted by a pen-type device in a manner sharable amongstdifferent applications. SVG (D3) provides a Web standard that permitsdrawing of a path defined by user-input control points as vector data,regardless of what type of pen device is used as an input device.

The ink data described in (D1) through (D4) all define geometricinformation needed to reproduce a trace (or path) formed by movement ofa pen or a finger. Such information is herein collectively called a“stroke object.”

(D1) describes the ink data that is currently most widely known. (D1)defines an object called “trace” as follows: “<trace> is the basicelement used to record the trajectory of a pen as the user writesdigital ink.”

For example,

<ink><trace>x1 y1, x2 y2, . . . xn yn</trace></ink>

describes a path of a stroke object that extends from a point x1, y1 toa point xn, yn.

(D2) describes the ink data generated by an ink function usable onMicrosoft™ Windows™ applications. (D2) defines an object called “stroke”as follows: “As described earlier in the simple example, Strokes are themost fundamental and important property in ISF. Strokes contain thepacket data that make up the individual points in a stroke andpotentially other per-stroke properties as well.”

(D3) describes a standard of a vector data supported by various browsersand drawing software, though (D3) does not assume pen input. (D3)defines information called “path” as follows: “Paths represent theoutline of a shape which can be filled, stroked, used as a clipping pathor any combination of the three.” In SVG (D3), a path object isinterpolated based on interpolation curves such as the Poly-Bezier(Cubic Bezier, Quadratic Bezier) Curves well known in the art.

For example,

<path stroke=“green” stroke-width=“5” d=“M100,200 C100,100 300,100300,200”/>

describes a path starting from a beginning control point (100,200) to anending control point (300,200), using two control points (100,100) and(300,100), and having a path width of “5” and color green.

(D4) defines a class called “Canvas Path,” which can utilize, forexample, a Quadratic Curve command and a Bezier Curve command togenerate interpolated curves.

In the present description, the term “stroke object” is used as ageneral term that encompasses the “trace,” “stroke,” “path” and “CanvasPath” of (D1) through (D4) above.

A stroke object is vector data information whose data structure includesa set of point or control point coordinates that are used collectivelyto reproduce a trace (or a path) formed by movement of a pen or afinger. According to various embodiments, the present invention offersmethods and systems for generating, manipulating (e.g., slicing),rendering and communicating ink data that represent hand-drawn(freehand) stroke data on and between various applications. Each of theembodiments provide technical solutions that were not available in theprior art of (D1)-(D5) above. It should be noted that, while thefollowing description is organized to disclose generally four (4)embodiments of the invention, various aspects of the embodiments may becombined, supplemented, interchanged, switched or modified among andbetween the embodiments to produce further embodiments, as will beapparent to those skilled in the art. For example, various methods andsystems of each embodiment may employ the definition of ink data, aswell as the methods of generating, reproducing, drawing (rendering),manipulating and communicating the ink data and the ink data structures(data objects and data formats) as described in connection with one ormore of the other embodiments disclosed herein.

Each of the following embodiments 1-4, in various examples, addressesone or more of the aspects described below.

[ASPECT ONE] Introduction of manipulation objects that partially orwholly transform pre-existing stroke objects in several computers.

According to one aspect, the invention is directed to providingmanipulation objects. The previously known ink data models describedabove include semantics and syntax usable only for processing staticstroke data, to process one stroke object as one aggregate. Thus, thepreviously known ink data models are not capable of selecting or slicinga portion of a stroke object. Also, the previously known ink data modelsallow manipulation of a stroke object on one processor, and areincapable of allowing multiple processors to share the manipulation(e.g., editing) operation executed on the stroke object in real time.

FIG. 91 illustrates an example of a manipulation object 270, a “slice”object, according to an embodiment of the present invention. A sliceobject 274 capable of manipulating (slicing) a portion of a strokeobject is generated and transmitted. In the illustrated example, aportion of one stroke object 9101 on one computer is sliced, and amanipulation data 9103 indicative of the sliced portion is shared byother computers such that the stroke object 9101 on the other computerstoo can be manipulated in the same manner. Modification or manipulation(e.g., slicing) of a portion of a stroke object will be described indetail below in the first and fourth embodiments of the presentinvention. Sharing of one manipulation object 270 amongst multiplecomputers to share the edited, up-to-date status of the ink data amongthem will be described in detail below in the first, second and fourthembodiments of the present invention.

[ASPECT TWO] Abstracting the definition of pen event input informationto absorb device differences (and making SVG more pen-input-oriented toimprove SVG's pent-input expression capability).

According to a further aspect, the invention is directed to makinghand-drawn input data abstract so as to absorb any differences thatexist among different input devices. This is achieved by abstractingpre-existing input attributes of strokes, such as pen pressure and penangle information, to higher-level-concept attributes defined in a novelmodel. In general, the information that needs to be reproduced based onhand-drawn input data is not “how” the hand-drawn data was inputted,such as at what angle a pen (stylus) was held, at what point in timewhat coordinate was obtained, and how much pen pressure was applied,etc. Instead, the information that needs to be captured is vector datathat can reproduce the “result” of such pen (style) operation or drawingoperation that was carried out with certain pen pressure, pen speed,etc.

Currently various hand-drawn input devices exist, ranging from ahigh-performance input device (e.g., 9202C in FIG. 92) capable ofobtaining pen pressure, pen angle, pen rotational angle data, etc., to awidely used electrostatic tablet or other simpler input devices capableof receiving input by a finger but not capable of obtaining penpressure, pen tilt angle, etc. (e.g., 9202A in FIG. 92). Thus, it isdesirable to convert any device-dependent attributes of hand-drawn inputdata (shown as “Device dependent Pen Event Data” of 9202A-9202C in FIG.92, for example) to device-independent abstracted vector data (9204 inFIG. 92), which can be used to reproduce the “result” of a pen event.The ink data defined in such an abstracted form may be organized invector data, to ultimately produce raster data (image data) as shown in9208 in FIG. 92. SVG11 (D3) discussed above defines vector data, and isshown as 9206 in FIG. 92. SVG11 (D3) does not permit varying oradjusting the stroke width, color and transparency (opacity) and, as aresult, is not particularly suited for reproducing the “result” of a penevent. Also, SVG includes data other than the stroke object pathcoordinates data, such as control points used to generate Bezier curves,and thus are not suited for use with various applications 9220 otherthan specialized drawing applications.

In addition to producing raster image data (9208, FIG. 92), it is alsodesirable to organize the ink data in a more abstracted form in vector,for use in a signature verification application, in an annotationapplication, etc. In this regard, abstraction is preferably not tooimage-oriented, but should result in abstract attributes that may beused to define ink data in both raster form and in vector form.Abstracting device-dependent pen event data 9202 of Type 1 (includingpen pressure data) and of Type 2 (not including pen pressure data) tothe generalized ink data, which is the intermediate data 9204 in FIG.92, will be described in detail below in the first and third embodimentsof the present invention.

[ASPECT THREE] Extending the life cycle of an ink data ecosystem byseparating a language (information model) from a format.

For example, contents of raster data such as digital photos are oftenused not only by a single service or on a single application, but bymultiple services and applications and are shared by or transferredamongst all in a chained manner on a particular “ecosystem” (though theymay be processed in various formats such as JPEG, GIF, TIFF, etc.).These various formats may be used because raster data includes a commoninformation model which conceptually describes a collection of pixelvalues.

According to a still further aspect, the invention is directed tofacilitating ink data exchange and transfer between different formats,based on adoption of the common language (stroke language (SL)). Thestroke language (SL) is an information model that defines semantics ofthe ink data of the present invention, as opposed to the formats of theink data. That is, the ink data thus defined by abstracted attributesmay be processed into different raster image formats (PNG, JPEG, etc.),exchanged between different vector graphics formats (SVG, InkML, HTML5,etc.), or produced in different stream formats (ISF, InkML, etc.) thatdefine stroke structures. FIG. 93 conceptually describes this aspect ofthe invention. To add flexibility to output format types as well asinput format types, and to accommodate a variety of output and inputformat types, the common language (or the information model that definesthe common language) preferably resides in the intermediary between adevice driver level that generates the language and an output level atwhich the generated language is outputted into a file, packets, etc. Inparticular, the ink data processing section 100 according to variousembodiments of the invention includes an ink data generation section 120that generates ink data based on the abstracted language (strokelanguage), and an ink data formatting section 140 that handles input andoutput of the ink data in various formats, as two separate components.Since the function of ink data generation and the function of ink dataformatting for input/output purposes are separated, the ink dataprocessing section 100 is suited to be used as a building block of theink data ecosystem to spread use of the ink data amongst variousdevices. This aspect of the invention will be described in detail belowin the fourth embodiment.

These three aspects of the invention as described in FIGS. 91-93 will bediscussed again after the description of the first through fourthembodiments of the present invention below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overall system in which ink data aregenerated and utilized, according to various embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is an entity relationship diagram of an ink data structure,suitable for use in embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 3A illustrates a stroke object, which is defined by multiple pointobjects.

FIGS. 3B and 3C illustrate two rendering (drawing) results of the strokeobject of FIG. 3A according to two different drawing style objects.

FIG. 4A illustrates operation of a “select” manipulation object used toselect and transform (e.g., rotate) a stroke object.

FIG. 4B illustrates operation of a “slicing” manipulation object used toslice a stroke object.

FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of an ink data processing deviceaccording to first embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram of an ink data processing section(100) of the ink data processing device of FIG. 5 according to firstembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram of a stroke object handling section(122) of the ink data processing section of FIG. 6 according to firstembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 8 illustrates the processing performed at points “A” through “D” inthe stroke object handling section of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating a sample routine performed by theink data processing section of FIG. 6.

FIG. 10 illustrates a sample stroke file format (SFF) file written inthe Interface Definition Language (IDL), which may be outputted at point“E” of the ink data processing device of FIG. 5.

FIG. 11 illustrates a sample stroke object file in the stroke fileformat (SFF), which may be outputted at point “E” of the ink dataprocessing device of FIG. 5.

FIG. 12 illustrates three messages in a stroke message format (SMF),which may be outputted at point “F” of the ink data processing device ofFIG. 5, and one packet outputted at point “G” of the ink data processingdevice of FIG. 5.

FIG. 13A illustrates a stroke object subjected to the Catmull-Rom Curveinterpolation operation, which may be outputted at point “D” of the inkdata processing device of FIG. 5 to be inputted to a graphic processingsection (300) or to an ink data formatting section (140).

FIG. 13B illustrates a rendering (display) result of the stroke objectof FIG. 13A, outputted from the graphic processing section (300) atpoint “H” of the ink data processing device of FIG. 5.

FIG. 14 is a flow chart of a slicing operation applied to a strokeobject according to first embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 15A illustrates a process of determining a single (mid)intersecting point (P_intersect_Mid) between two strokes, performed instep S1409 of FIG. 14.

FIG. 15B illustrates a process of deriving two (edge) intersectingpoints (P_intersect_L and P_intersect_R) between a slicing stroke objecthaving a width and a pre-existing stroke object, performed in step S1413of FIG. 14.

FIG. 16A illustrates a first one of two slices resulting from slicing astroke object, derived in step S1415 of FIG. 14.

FIG. 16B illustrates a data structure of parameters that define thefirst slice of FIG. 16A.

FIG. 16C illustrates a rendered path of the newly-created first strokeobject.

FIG. 17A illustrates a second one of the two slices resulting fromslicing the stroke object, derived in step S1415 of FIG. 14.

FIG. 17B illustrates a data structure of parameters that define thesecond slice of FIG. 17A.

FIG. 17C illustrates a rendered path of the newly-created second strokeobject.

FIG. 18A illustrates a process of deriving a new end point for the firstslice of FIG. 16A and a process of deriving a new start point for thesecond slice of FIG. 17A.

FIG. 18B illustrates a data structure of parameters that define a holesegment object, according to first embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 19 illustrates a sample file in the stroke file format (SFF)containing two newly-created stroke objects representing two slicesresulting from slicing a stroke object.

FIG. 20 is a detailed flow chart of the ink data transmission processingperformed in step S1422 of FIG. 14.

FIGS. 21A-21D illustrate different transmission message types (Type A,Type B, Type C and Type D) that may be used to transmit ink data inconnection with a slicing operation.

FIG. 22 is a functional block diagram of an ink data reception deviceconfigured to remotely receive ink data via a network according to firstembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 23 is a flow chart illustrating a reception processing of amanipulation (slicing) object at the reception side according to firstembodiments of the present invention.

FIGS. 24A and 24B illustrate a technical problem associated with theprior art.

FIG. 25 is an entity relationship diagram of an ink data structure,suitable for use in second embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 26 is an overall communications system diagram suitable for use insecond embodiments.

FIG. 27 illustrates a transmission device (10-1) of the communicationssystem of FIG. 26.

FIG. 28 illustrates a sample recording format, suited for storing anupdated state of a common drawing area (canvas), in second embodimentsof the present invention.

FIG. 29 illustrates a relay server (10-2) of the communications systemof FIG. 26.

FIGS. 30A-30C illustrate communications parameters, drawing parameters,and user policy parameters, respectively, which collectively describe ordefine a transmission device's communications and graphics environment.

FIG. 31 illustrates a reception device (10-3) of the communicationssystem of FIG. 26.

FIG. 32 is a sequence diagram illustrating ink data communicationsbetween the transmission device (10-1), relay server (10-2), andreception device (10-3), according to second embodiments of theinvention.

FIG. 33 is a flow chart of a sample process of finding a defined unit Tfor transmitting ink data.

FIG. 34 illustrates a sample transmission format of communicationspackets and messages, suited for transmitting (communicating) ink dataamongst multiple devices, according to second embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 35A illustrates a communications packet used in a communicationsprotocol that includes a data retransmission scheme, and

FIG. 35B illustrates a communications packet used in a communicationsprotocol that does not include a data retransmission mechanism.

FIG. 36A is a sequence diagram of a sample data retransmission processwhich uses sequence ID, suitable for use in a communications protocolthat does not include a data retransmission mechanism.

FIG. 36B is a sequence diagram of a data transmission process, suitablefor use in a communications protocol that does not include a dataretransmission mechanism, in which data retransmission is not performed.

FIGS. 36C-36E illustrate methods for calculating a control position of amessage.

FIGS. 36F and 36G illustrate an interpolation (error concealment)processing, which uses the control position calculated in FIGS. 36C-36E,for use in the sequence of FIG. 36B.

FIG. 37 is a sequence diagram illustrating ink data communications, inwhich a request to update a common drawing area issued by a transmissiondevice is rejected by a relay server.

FIG. 38 is a first modification example of the sequence diagram of FIG.32, in which a relay server receives fragmented data of a stroke objectfrom a transmission device and combines all of the fragmented data perstroke object to be relayed to a reception device.

FIG. 39A is a data transmission format for use in the first modificationexample of FIG. 38, in which all of the ink data for one stroke objectare combined and included.

FIG. 39B illustrates a sample data transmission format ofDATA_INK_ALLOS_REQ, which is a message that requests the stroke objectdata of an entire stroke when the stroke ID is known.

FIG. 40 is a second modification example of the sequence diagram of FIG.32, in which a stroke object is transmitted “as is” (i.e.,non-fragmented) from a transmission device via a relay server to areception device.

FIG. 41 is a third modification example of the sequence diagram of FIG.32, in which a relay server receives a stroke object from a transmissiondevice and fragments the received stroke object into multiple pieces offragmented data to be relayed to a reception device.

FIG. 42 is a diagram illustrating the concept of a user-specific strokestarting point relative to an origin of a common drawing area.

FIGS. 43 and 44 illustrate a second embodiment of ink data transmissionin a unit of semantics, which is greater than a unit of stroke.

FIG. 45 illustrates data input/output at an ink data processing sectionand in a generating method on one hand, and at an ink data processingsection and in a reproducing method on the other hand, according tothird embodiments of the present invention.

FIGS. 46A-46C illustrate three configuration examples of ink datagenerating methods according to third embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIGS. 47A and 47B illustrate two configuration examples of ink datareproducing methods according to third embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 48A is an entity relationship diagram of an ink data structure,pursuant to an ink data model (Stroke Language (SL)) according to thirdembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 48B is a detailed entity relationship diagram of the ink datastructure of FIG. 48A.

FIG. 48C is a graphical representation of a stroke object.

FIG. 48D is a diagram that explains a Canvas object.

FIG. 48E is a diagram that explains a Metadata object.

FIG. 48F is a diagram illustrating rendition results of three differentdrawing style objects as seen on a screen.

FIG. 48G is a diagram that explains operation of a manipulation (slice)object.

FIG. 48H is a diagram that explains operation of a manipulation (erase)object.

FIG. 48I is a diagram that explains operation of a manipulation (selectand transform) object as applied to a pre-existing stroke object.

FIGS. 48J-48L illustrate syntax of an ink data structure arranged in astroke file format (SFF) according to third embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 49 is a functional block diagram of an ink data processing sectionaccording to third embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 50A is a flow diagram illustrating a process executed in a “inkdata generation section” of FIG. 49 to output radius and alphainformation as attributes of a point object, according to thirdembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 50B illustrates sample GUI of an application or an operating systemthat may be used to define context information regarding pen event data.

FIG. 51 is a diagram illustrating the process of deriving velocity instep S1205 of FIG. 50, according to third embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 52 is a flow diagram illustrating the process of deriving a radiusin step S1207 of FIG. 50, according to third embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 53 is a diagram illustrating the definition of “phase” of a strokeas used in step S1207_01 of FIG. 52, according to third embodiments ofthe present invention.

FIG. 54 is a graph that illustrates three functions for deriving aradius from a parameter (velocity), as used in steps S1207_05 andS1207_07 of FIG. 52, according to third embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 55 is a flow diagram illustrating the process of deriving alphaindicative of transparency (or opacity) in step S1209 of FIG. 50,according to third embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 56 is a graph that illustrates two functions for deriving alpha(transparency/opacity) from a parameter (velocity), as used in stepsS1209_05 and 1209_07 of FIG. 55, according to third embodiments of thepresent invention.

FIG. 57 is a flow diagram illustrating a process of formatting radiusand alpha values, as well as X and Y coordinate data, into an ink dataformat (data structure), according to third embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 58 illustrates an implementation example of steps S1411 and S1413of FIG. 57, according to third embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 59 illustrates conversion of floating data type to integer datatype used in steps S1411 and S1413 of FIG. 57, according to thirdembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 60 illustrates the increased efficiency of compression resultingfrom the data type conversion of FIG. 59, according to third embodimentsof the present invention.

FIG. 61 is a flow diagram illustrating a process, which may be executedin an “ink data formatting section” of FIG. 49 to compress the generatedink data, according to third embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 62 is a flow diagram illustrating a process executed in an “inkdata generation section” of FIG. 49 to output radius information as anink data attribute (alternatively to FIG. 52), according to thirdembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 63 is a flow diagram illustrating a process executed in a “ink datageneration section” of FIG. 49 to output alpha information as an inkdata attribute (alternatively to FIG. 55), according to thirdembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 64 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between an ink dataprocessing section and various applications, according to thirdembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 65 is a flow diagram illustrating an ink data reproducing processto extract (reproduce) radius and alpha information, as well as X and Ycoordinate data, in ink data and outputting the extracted informationand data in response to a request from a drawing application, accordingto third embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 66 illustrates an implementation example of steps S2011 and S2013of FIG. 65, according to third embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 67 is a flow diagram illustrating a drawing process that applies aselected drawing style object to a stroke object to be drawn, accordingto third embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 68 illustrates drawing rendering examples resulting from input ofthe ink data generated based on the attenuate (damping) function of FIG.54, according to third embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 69 illustrates drawing rendering examples resulting from input ofthe ink data generated based on the power function of FIG. 56, accordingto third embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 70 illustrates drawing rendering examples resulting from input ofthe ink data generated based on both of the attenuate function of FIG.54 and the power function of FIG. 56, according to third embodiments ofthe present invention.

FIG. 71 illustrates drawing rendering examples, which show effects ofother functions (sigmoid and periodic functions) of FIG. 54, accordingto third embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 72 illustrates drawing rendering examples, which show effects ofusing special values as the radii of the beginning and ending points ofa stroke to be drawn, according to third embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 73 is a diagram illustrating an overall system in which ink dataare utilized, according to fourth embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 74 is a functional block diagram of an ink data processing sectionaccording to fourth embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 75 is a more detailed functional block diagram of the ink dataprocessing section of FIG. 74, according to fourth embodiments of theinvention.

FIG. 76 is a functional block diagram of a stroke object handlingsection (122) of FIG. 75.

FIGS. 77A and 77B are flowcharts illustrating a method of generating astroke object.

FIG. 78 is a functional block diagram of a metadata object handlingsection (124) of FIG. 75.

FIG. 79 is a flowchart illustrating a method of generating a metadataobject.

FIG. 80 is a functional block diagram of a rendering (drawing style)object handling section (126) of FIG. 75.

FIG. 81 is a flowchart illustrating a method of deriving a (drawing)style object and its cascading properties.

FIG. 82 is a functional block diagram of a manipulation object handlingsection (128) of FIG. 75.

FIGS. 83A and 83B are flowcharts illustrating a method of deriving amanipulation object, such as a slice object.

FIG. 84 is a functional block diagram of an ink data ink data formattingsection (140) of FIG. 75.

FIG. 85 is a flowchart illustrating a process performed in the ink dataink data formatting section of FIG. 84.

FIG. 86 is a flowchart illustrating a method of outputting a stroke fileformat (SFF) data.

FIG. 87 is a flowchart illustrating a method of outputting JPEG formatdata.

FIG. 88 is a flowchart illustrating a method of outputting a strokemessaging format (SMF) data.

FIG. 89 is a functional block diagram that explains input processing ofdata (SFF/JPEG and SMF) that have been outputted in various file formatsand messaging formats.

FIG. 90A is a flowchart of processing to interpret and reproduce anobject arranged in an SFF file.

FIG. 90B is a flowchart of processing to interpret and reproduce anobject based on input in InkML.

FIG. 90C is a flowchart illustrating a process of receiving andexecuting a manipulation (slice) object in SMF.

FIG. 91 is a diagram explaining the effect of using an ink dataprocessing device (101) of FIG. 75 to address ASPECT ONE.

FIG. 92 is a diagram explaining the effect of using an ink dataprocessing device (101) of FIG. 75 to address ASPECT TWO.

FIG. 93 is a diagram explaining the effect of using an ink dataprocessing device (101) of FIG. 75 to address ASPECT THREE.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As used herein, and unless otherwise specifically defined in aparticular context to be applicable only to a particular embodiment, thefollowing terms have the following meaning throughout the variousembodiments described herein.

“Pen event data” (INPUT1) means data inputted based on a user's handdrawing motion. Pen event data may be the raw data as inputted by agiven input device, or data that has been processed from the raw data.While all pen event data are expected to have at least the positionalinformation (e.g., XY coordinates) of each stroke drawn by a user, penevent data is device-dependent and includes attributes (e.g., penpressure data, pen rotation or tilt angle data, etc.) that are specificto each type of input device. For example, pen event data received frominput devices capable of detecting pen pressure is different from penevent data received from input devices incapable of detecting penpressure.

“Ink data” (200) means a collection of objects that are derived from penevent data. Ink data 200 captures paths (strokes) formed based on penevent data and is in the form of vector data, which is a type ofintermediate data that describes properties (color, pen type, etc.) ofeach path. Ink data 200 is device-independent in that it can be sharedby those devices that support pen pressure and/or pen rotation/tiltangle attributes and by those devices that do not support theseattributes. Ink data 200 according to embodiments of the inventionincludes stroke objects 210, metadata objects 250, drawing style objects230, and manipulation objects 270. Ink data 200 will be described indetail below in FIGS. 2, 3A-4B, 25, 48A-48I, etc.

“Stroke object” (210) is one type of object or data included in the inkdata 200. The “stroke,” “path,” “trace” and “CanvasPath” described in(D1)-(D4) above are all stroke objects 210. A stroke object 210describes a shape of a path (stroke) obtained by a user operation of aninput device.

“Metadata object” (250) is one type of object included in the ink data200, and include non-drawing related information that describes a strokeobject 210, such as authorship, pen ID, locally obtained date and timeinformation, location information obtained by GPS, etc.

“Drawing style object” (230) is one type of object included in the inkdata 200, and includes information necessary to control the shape(stroke width, stroke style/pattern) and color of a stroke object 210when rendered (drawn, expressed, rasterized) on a display. In short, thedrawing style object controls rendering (drawing) of a stroke object210.

“Manipulation object” (270) is one type of object included in the inkdata 200 and executes a manipulative/modification operation (e.g.,slicing operation) on the whole of, or a part of, each of one or morepre-existing stroke objects 210. Application of a manipulation object270 to a part of a stroke object will be described in detail below inthe first embodiment.

“Stroke language (SL)” is an information model that defines attributesand meanings of various objects that form the ink data 200.

“Stroke file format (SFF)” is a type of recording format, in which theink data 200 to be outputted are serialized in a recording format.Details of SFF will be described below in reference to FIGS. 10, 11, 19,28, 48J, 48K, 48L, 57, 65 and 86.

“Recording format” means a format suitable for persisting ink data 200,such as the SFF format and the SVG format. Ink data 200 in a recordingformat can be recorded in storage (HDD, network storage, etc.) as a fileor database and its serialized data stream can be retrieved anddeserialized therefrom.

“Stroke message format (SMF)” is one type of a message transmissionformat included in a transmission packet or frame, for use intransmitting the ink data 200 using a defined transmission protocol.Details of SMF will be described below in reference to FIGS. 12, 21, 34,35A, 35B, 39A, 39B and 88.

“Transmission format” means a message format suitable for transmitting(messaging) ink data 200 over a network, such as the SMF format.

“Image data” means rasterized images, such as GIF and JPEG images,containing pixel data, which can be produced (drawn) based on ink data200. Image-format data which is not intermediate cannot be reverted backto ink data 200.

The following terms are used to describe several main structures andcomponents used to process the ink data 200, as shown in FIG. 5 forexample.

“Ink data processing section” (100) means a processor that generates,stores, and processes the ink data 200. In the description, the ink dataprocessing section that is used to generate the ink data 200, based onpen event data, and to arrange the ink data 200 in a defined format maybe indicated by a reference numeral 100T, while the ink data processingsection that is used to reproduce the ink data 200, which has beengenerated and arranged in a defined format, within a computer may beindicated by a reference numeral 100R. Details of the ink dataprocessing section 100 will be described below in reference to FIGS. 5and 75, and additionally in reference to FIGS. 6, 22, 27, 31, 49 and 74.The ink data processing section 100 generally inputs/includes/receivesthree types of information: 1) PenEvent (type input) information (“INPUT1”), 2) Context information (“INPUT 2”), and 3) Manipulation information(“INPUT 3”).

“Ink data generation section” (120) produces the ink data 200 orextracts the ink data 200. In the description, the ink data generationsection that generates the ink data 200 based on input signal receivedfrom an input sensor may be indicated by a reference numeral 120T, andthe ink data generation section that extracts the already-generated inkdata 200 and restores it in memory may be indicated by a referencenumeral 120R.

“Ink data formatting section” (140) processes the ink data 200 arrangedin the recording format or in the transport format for the purpose ofinput and output. In the description, the ink data formatting sectionthat outputs the ink data 200 in a defined format may be indicated by areference numeral 140T, and the ink data formatting section that inputsthe ink data 200 in a defined format may be indicated by a referencenumeral 140R.

First Embodiment

A first embodiment of the present invention is directed to generating,rendering, manipulating (e.g., slicing) and communicating stroke objects210 that form ink data 200. In particular, manipulation of a portion ofa stroke object 210, as described above in reference to FIG. 91, as wellas sharing (transmission) of the manipulation operation amongst multipleprocessors will be described.

Background of the First Embodiment

The stroke objects described in (D1) through (D4) include points orcontrol points, which are necessary for generating interpolated curvesor paths by using a predetermined interpolation curve algorithm.

(D1) and (D2) do not specify any particular interpolation curvealgorithm, i.e., any suitable interpolation curve algorithm can be used.

(D3) and (D4) use the Poly-Bezier (Cubic Bezier) Curves. In thePoly-Bezier Curve, the start point Pi and the end point Pi+1 of singlecurve segment (path segment) are used as control points. In addition, atleast one more control point is required to define a curvature of thecurve segment between point Pi and point Pi+1 (the start point and theend point), wherein the control point is different from either Pi orPi+1 and is not on the curve that includes the curve segment (i.e.,outside the curve). For example, the Cubic Bezier Curve requires twocontrol points located outside a curve to define a curve segment.

For example, XML notation <stroke-width=“5” d=“M 100, 200 C100, 100300,100 300,200”/> used for the Cubic Bezier Curve means:

Start point of (100, 200) is used as a control point;

End point (300, 200) is used as another control point; and

Two more control points (100, 100) and (300, 100) are used to define acurve segment (between the start point and the end point but outside thecurve segment).

Recently the W3C SVG Working Group responsible for SVG (D3) above hasbeen discussing possible use of the Catmull-Rom Curve to interpolatecurves. Unlike the Poly-Bezier Curve, the Catmull-Rom Curve does nothave control points that are outside the curve (i.e., not on the curve).The Catmull-Rom Curve defines each curve segment with four controlpoints: a start point (Pi), an end point (Pi+1), a point “before” thestart point (Pi−1), and a point “after” the end point (Pi+2). All of thecontrol points are on the curve. In other words, the Catmull-Rom Curvepasses through all of its control points. (Though, because each curvesegment requires two control points “before” and “after” the curvesegment, the curve segments at the two extreme ends of a stroke objectare undefined.)

Summary of the First Embodiment

FIGS. 24A and 24B illustrate one technical problem encountered in theink data definition in the prior art D1 to D5. FIG. 24A illustrates acurve 2401S represented by a stroke object, to which a slicing operation2403 is applied. The stroke object representing the curve 2401S includesa set of point coordinates (p1˜p10) inputted via an input sensor.

In FIG. 24A, the slicing operation 2403 is applied to slice a curvesegment of the stroke object between point coordinates p5 and p6 along adivision line that passes through a cross-point 2405. FIG. 24Billustrates two segmented curves 2411 S1 and 2415 S2, which result fromthe slicing operation 2403. The curve 2411 S1 includes point coordinatesp1 through p5, and the curve 2415 S2 includes point coordinates p6through p10. As shown, the segmented curve 2411 S1 displayed as a solidline ends at the point coordinate p5 and, thus, is shorter than theactual segmented curve that extends to the cross-point 2405. Similarly,the segmented curve 2415 S2 displayed as a solid line starts at thepoint coordinate p6 and is shorter than the actual segmented curve thatstarts at the cross-point 2405. In FIG. 24B, partial curve segments 2413shown in broken line indicate those segments of the curve that are lostdue to the slicing operation 2403.

It is possible to add a new control point at the cross-point 2405 andfurther control points to define the newly-created partial curvesegments 2413 between p5 and the cross-point 2405 and between thecross-point 2405 and p6. Calculating the positions of new control pointsto represent the precise shape of the partial curve segments 2413 to anend point 2405 is computationally intensive and is no easy task. Forexample, when an interpolation curve such as the Cubic Bezier Curve isused, two control points outside the curve (or path) need to becalculated to define each new segment. When the Catmull-Rom Curve isused, two control points along the curve need to be calculated (orrecalculated) to define each new segment, which will lead to cascaderecalculation of all previous control points in order to maintain theactual curvature. Both types of calculation are highly complex and tootime-consuming to support real-time implementation of a slicingoperation in a graphics or drawing application.

A need exists for a method and system that allow a user to slice astroke object forming ink data, wherein each of the two slices resultingfrom the slicing operation represents the actual segmented curve slicedfrom the original stroke object. Preferably the method and system do notrequire calculating new positions of control points used forinterpolating curves because such calculation is complex and often toocomputationally intensive to support real-time application.

According to one aspect, the present invention provides methods andsystems for generating, drawing, manipulating (e.g., slicing), andcommunicating ink data including stroke objects 210, wherein the strokeobject 210 includes or is associated with range information that definesa particular portion of the stroke object 210 to be rendered(displayed). When the range information indicates full display, thestroke object 210 is displayed in its entirety, and when the rangeinformation indicates partial display, one or both ends of the strokeobject 210 is partially designated to be not displayed. When a slicingoperation is applied to an original stroke object 210 to produce two newstroke objects 210, the first new stroke object 210 is associated withrange information that designates a new “end” point at which rasterizing(or rendering or consequently displaying) of the first new stroke ends.Correspondingly, the second new stroke object 210 is associated withrange information that designates a new “start” point from which displayof the second new stroke starts. Both the first and second new strokeobjects 210 retain the same structure and the same control points(albeit partially) as the original stroke object and, thus, display ofthe first and second new stroke objects 210 precisely follows the shapeof the original stroke object 210 and, also, it is not necessary tocalculate new control points.

According to another aspect, methods and systems are provided thatoutput a stroke object 210 to form ink data 200. The stroke objectincludes a plurality of point objects, which represent a plurality ofcoordinate positions. At least some of the point objects serve ascontrol points used to generate interpolated curve segments, whichtogether form a path of the stroke object 210. The stroke object 210further includes range information that defines a start point in astarting curve segment at which display of the stroke object 210 starts,and an end point in an ending curve segment at which display of thestroke object 210 ends. When an original stroke object 210 is sliced togenerate two new stroke objects 210, each of the two new stroke objects210 includes a partial set of the point objects duplicated from theoriginal stroke object 210 as well as its own range information, i.e.,parameters indicating its own start point and its own end point.

According to another aspect, methods and systems are provided that draw(render on a display) the ink data structured as above, wherein eachstroke object 210 includes a plurality of point objects and rangeinformation. At least some of the point objects are control points usedto generate interpolated curve segments. The methods and systems draweach stroke object 210 on a display by interpolating curve segmentsbased on the control points to generate a path of the stroke object 210and by displaying a portion of the stroke object 210 designated by therange information. In other words the methods and systems start todisplay the stroke object 210 at a start point indicated in the rangeinformation and stop displaying the stroke object 210 at an end pointindicated in the range information.

According to a further aspect, methods and systems are provided thatallow a user to slice a stroke object 210 of the ink data structured asabove. When a user performs a slicing operation on a stroke object 210,the methods and systems calculate the position of a cross-point betweenthe slicing path and the stroke object 210. (See 2405 in FIG. 24A). Themethods and systems generate two new stroke objects 210 resulting fromthe slicing operation: a first stroke object 210 and a second strokeobject 210. The first stroke object 210 includes a first set of pointobjects and first range information that indicates a display start pointand a display end point, wherein the display end point is derived fromthe calculated cross-point. The second stroke object 210 includes asecond set of point objects and second range information that includes adisplay start point and a display end point, wherein the display startpoint is derived from the calculated cross-point. Typically the firstrange information of the first stroke object 210 retains the samedisplay start point as that of the original stroke object 210, and thesecond range information of the second stroke object 210 retains thesame display end point as that of the original stroke object 210.

The ink data structured as above may be readily communicated betweendifferent devices or applications capable of processing the ink datasuch that multiple users can share the experience of drawing andmanipulating (slicing) strokes on a common drawing area (common“canvas”) in real time.

According to various methods and systems of the present invention, theink data structured as above are generated/outputted, drawn on adisplay, used to allow a user to slice a stroke object 210, and sharedamongst different users. Use of the range information to display only aportion of the actual curve segments included in a stroke object 210makes it possible to display sliced (newly-created) stroke objects 210that precisely follow the shape of the original stroke object 210 to itsend. Also, because the sliced stroke objects 210 retain the samestructure and the same control points (albeit partially) as the originalstroke object 210, there is no need to calculate or recalculate newcontrol points in connection with a slicing operation.

The methods and systems of the present invention may be applied in inkdata in which curve segments are interpolated according to various typescurve interpolation algorithms, such as the Poly-Bezier Curve (CubicBezier, Quadratic Bezier) algorithm and the Catmull-Rom Curve algorithmknown in the art.

Description of the First Embodiment

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overall system in which ink data 200are utilized, according to embodiments of the present invention. In FIG.1, a cloud portion 1 outlined in broken lines represents aninfrastructure such as the Internet, on which a system that utilizes inkdata 200 of the present invention may operate. The Internet as anexemplary infrastructure is built on a standardized set of internetprotocol suites (e.g., IP, TCP, HTTP) and libraries and software thatimplement various Web and mail data formats (HTML, MIME) and theircommunications methods (HTTP, SMTP), which absorb differences amongstvendor-proprietary hardware configurations and operating systems. InFIG. 1, arrows in broken lines that pass through the infrastructureportion 1 illustrate data exchange occurring based on theseinfrastructure technologies. In FIG. 1, a cloud portion 10 outlined insolid lines represents an infrastructure for exchanging ink data 200,which is realized by establishing a common information model (language)regarding ink data 200. Ink data 200 are generalized so as to becommonly usable by a variety of application services (or ecosystems) andvariety of devices. For example, Application Service #1 and ApplicationService #2 in FIG. 1 may both utilize and exchange the ink data 200 viathe ink data exchange infrastructure 10, which may be realized asnecessary libraries for ink data processing section 100 that aredistributedly supported by several kinds of computers, e.g., mobileterminals and servers. Arrows in solid lines that pass through the dataexchange infrastructure 10 illustrate exchange of ink data 200 amongstvarious applications provided for several application services utilizinga group of libraries for utilizing ink data 200. By establishing acommon information model in the area (domain) of ink data 200, varioustypes of applications and services can share and exchange ink data 200.

In FIG. 1, Device 10-1 includes, as an input sensor, a pen-tablet-typeinput device capable of outputting pen pressure data, and generates inkdata using Application #1 provided for Application Service #1 providedby a first provider/software vendor. The generated ink data 200 may thenbe outputted in a suitable output form (e.g., SMF in packets)corresponding to the destination media (e.g., a network).

Device 10-1-2 is a tablet-type input device capable of receivinghand-drawn input made by a user's finger. The sensor of Device 10-1-2 isnot capable of outputting pen pressure data, and generates ink data 200that does not utilize pen pressure information using Application #2provided for Application Service #2 or in a suitable output formcorresponding to the destination media.

Device 10-3 is yet another type of computer (e.g., a desktop-type PC)that uses to Application Service #2. Device 10-3 may combine(synthesize) the ink data 200 respectively provided from Device 10-1-1and Device 10-1-2. Device 10-3 may render (draw) on its screen the inkdata 200 outputted from Device 10-1-1 and Device 10-1-2 that aresuperimposed on one another.

FIG. 2 is an entity relationship diagram of an ink data model. The inkdata 200 according to embodiments of the present invention include astroke object set 202, a drawing style object (set) 230 includinginformation needed to control the shape and color of a stroke object 210when rendered (drawn, expressed, rasterized) on a screen or display, ametadata object 250 including non-drawing related information thatdescribes the stroke object 210 (e.g., authorship), and a manipulationobject (set) 270 including information needed to manipulate (e.g.,slice, rotate) a pre-existing stroke object 210.

The stroke object 210 in a stroke object set 202 includes informationnecessary to reproduce a stroke 210 (or trace, path) formed by movementof a pointer (finger, pen, etc.). The stroke contains (217) multiple(“N” number of) point objects 212 (Point_1 . . . Point_N). In otherwords, the stroke is supported by coordinates of the multiple pointobjects, which are obtained from sampling pen event data (pointeroperation) generated by movement of a pointer. The point object may takeany form, such as an absolute or relative coordinate value form or avector form, as long as it may indicate a position of the point objectin a 2D, 3D . . . ND space. In various embodiments, the plurality ofpoint objects serve as control points, which can be used to interpolatecurve segments therebetween to thereby form a path (stroke) of thestroke object 210.

According to embodiments of the present invention, the stroke object 210further includes range information that defines which portion of thestroke object 210 is to be displayed. In the illustrated embodiment, therange information includes a first parameter “start Parameter” 301,which defines a start point in a starting curve segment of the strokeobject 210, and a second parameter “end Parameter” 303, which defines anend point in an ending curve segment of the stroke object 210. The rangeinformation is generated for the stroke object 210 after the pointobjects have been generated. For example, when a manipulation operationsuch as a slicing operation is performed on a stroke object 210 togenerate two new stroke objects 210, two sets of point objects thatrespectively form the two new stroke objects 210 are obtained, and rangeinformation is added to each of the two new stroke objects 210.

As used herein, the starting curve segment and the ending curve segmentmean those segments at which drawing (display) operation starts andends, respectively. Thus, a very first curve segment of a stroke object210, which is designated not to be displayed at all, is not a “starting”curve segment as used herein. Similarly, a very last curve segment,which is designated not to be displayed at all, is not an “ending” curvesegment.

There are generally two methods for generating (x, y) coordinates ofmultiple point objects. First, the coordinate points derived from penevent data (pen operation) may be outputted, while the pen event data isbeing inputted, as points of “raw value type.” Second, after all pointsforming a complete stroke are entered, a Cubic Spline function such as aBezier Curve function or a higher-order function (e.g., Lagrangepolynomial) representative of a fitted curve for the stroke isgenerated, and a minimum number of point objects needed to express thefitted curve may be obtained as of “optimized point type.” In thefollowing description, it is assumed that the point objects aregenerated as of the “raw value type” according to the first method,though the present invention may use the point objects of the “optimizedpoint type” according to the second method also.

The drawing style object (set) 230 includes information necessary tocontrol the shape (stroke width, stroke style/pattern) and color of astroke object 210 when rendered (drawn, expressed, rasterized) on adisplay. In short, the drawing style object 230 controls rendering of astroke object 210. The drawing style object (set) 230 of the illustratedexample includes a Shape Fill object 232 and a Particle Scatter object234.

FIGS. 3B and 3C respectively illustrate two rendering (drawing) resultsaccording to two different drawing style objects of the same strokeobject 210 of FIG. 3A.

FIG. 3B illustrates a rendering (drawing) result of the Shape Fillobject 232, which represents the stroke object 210 as a collection ofcircles 321 having various radii or widths. The centers of the circlesare aligned along the trace represented by the stroke object 210 and theouter peripheries of the collection of the circles are used to generate(calculate) envelopes 323 and 325. The envelopes 323 and 325 are thenused to draw the stroke object 210 of FIG. 3A on a screen or display.

FIG. 3C illustrates a rendering (drawing) result of the Particle Scatterobject 234, which draws the stroke object 210 of FIG. 3A as a collectionof point sprites, which are shaped particles 341 (flakes) having acenter, varying in size, and a rotational angle 345 (θ) relative to adefined axis of the flake. Each flake of varying size is rotated by θrelative to the defined axis, and its center is shifted by an offset 343from the trace in a direction perpendicular to the trace direction. Theoffset 343 is a random value derived from a predetermined seed.

A metadata object 250 (see FIG. 2) includes non-drawing relatedinformation that describes a stroke object 210, such as authorship, penID, locally obtained date and time information, location informationobtained by GPS, etc.

A manipulation object (set) 270 includes information necessary tomanipulate (e.g., select, transform/rotate, slice, etc.) a pre-existingstroke object 210 in whole or in part. Such information is organized inthe form of manipulation objects, each of which is executable on theentirety of, or on a part of, a stroke object 210 to effect desiredmanipulation of the stroke object 210. Each manipulation object 270includes parameters that define and control a specific manipulationoperation. For example, a Select object 272 includes parameters used toselect and transform (e.g., rotate by a transformation matrix) a strokeobject 210 as shown in FIG. 4A. A Slice object 274 includes parametersused to slice a stroke object 210 as shown in FIG. 4B.

FIG. 4A illustrates operation of the Select object 272. The target to beselected and transformed is a pre-existing stroke object 210 “Stroke_i”,which in FIG. 4A is selected by another Stroke_j (j>i). Stroke_j isnewly entered based on newly and continuously inputted pen event dataand includes point objects P1-Pn. Stroke_j is entered to define an areathat surrounds the pre-existing Stroke_i (hatched area in FIG. 4A) tothereby select the pre-existing Stroke_i. The Select object 272 mayapply a defined transformation matrix to transform (rotate) the selectedStroke_i, as illustrated by arrow 405 in FIG. 4A. There are variousmethods to determine whether and how Stroke_i is selected by Stroke_j.For example, if Stroke_j intersects Stroke_i at a single position(P_intersect_Mid) between p1 and p2, then only a right portion ofStroke_i can be selected and be transformed by 405. The remaining leftportion of the Stroke_i is not selected, and thus is maintained withoutbeing transformed by transform 405. This can be achieved bysimultaneously applying Slice manipulation on Stroke_i using Stroke_j(i.e., Stroke_j is used to trigger the generation of both the Selectobject 272 and the Slice object 274 for Stroke_i 401). In this caseStroke_i is split into two newly generated strokes. One of these newlygenerated strokes is completely surrounded by Stroke_j and thereforeselected.

FIG. 4B illustrates operation of the Slice object 274. The Slice object274, which is a partial manipulation for the Stroke_i 401, is generatedby a new stroke object 403 (Stroke_j) containing point objects P1-P4.The stroke object 403 is associated with type information indicatingthat it is not a normal stroke object 210 but is a manipulation objectconfigured to perform a defined manipulative operation on a pre-existingstroke object 210. For example, the stroke object 403 (Stroke_j) may belabeled as of “INPUT 3” (manipulation object) type, as will be morefully described below in reference to FIG. 5. As illustrated in FIG. 4B,the Slice object 274 (embodied in Stroke_j of “INPUT 3” type) isinputted to slice a pre-existing stroke object 401 (Stroke_i). To thisend, the Slice object 274 includes parameters needed to slice thepre-existing stroke object 401 (Stroke_i) into two slices: slice_i1 407and slice i2 409. The Slice object 274 may function as a slicer, aneraser, a portion extractor, etc., in various applications. After theslice operation is performed to generate the two new slices 407 and 409,these slices may be “committed” (or finalized) into becoming twofully-defined stroke objects 210. At this point, the original strokeobject 401 (Stroke_i) need not be retained nor the (uncommitted) slices407 and 409 and the Slice object 274 (Stroke_j) itself used to generatethe slices.

FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of an ink data processing devicecapable of outputting, manipulating, drawing, and communicating(transmitting/receiving) the ink data according to embodiments of thepresent invention. The device generally corresponds to Device 10-1-1(Sensor type 1) or Device 10-1-2 (Sensor type 2) in FIG. 1.

The device in this example is a computing device including an inputsensor 110, an input processing section 111, an ink data processingsection 100, an application section 300-1, a graphic processing section300, a display 113, and a communications section 112 (“Tx, Rx”), allcontrolled by an operating system 400-1 executed by a CPU coupled tomemory device(s). The device may be a personal computer (PC), a mobileterminal device, etc., including or coupled to an input sensor 110 inthe form of a pen-tablet sensor.

The input sensor 110 detects a user's handwriting motion (via a pointersuch as a pen and a finger) and generates input data signalrepresentative of the detected handwriting motion. For example, anelectrostatic sensor, a pressure-sensitive sensor, an electromagneticresonance (EMR) based sensor may be used.

The input processing section 111 receives input data from the inputsensor 110, where the input data is of the type dependent on each inputsensor, and converts the input data to “pen event data” amenable forfurther processing to generate ink data 200. The generated “pen eventdata” is inputted as “INPUT 1” (see point “A” in FIG. 5) to the ink dataprocessing section 100. The pen event data (“INPUT 1”) includes at leastthe sensed coordinate positions, and may additionally include penpressure data, pen tilt data, etc., depending on whether the inputsensor 110 has pressure/tilt detection capabilities. Thus, the pen eventdata outputted from the input processing section 111 are alsodevice/sensor dependent. The input processing section 111 is typicallyrealized as a driver software program of the input sensor 110, such asthe input subsystem that runs on Android® operation system. Theconfiguration of the input sensor 110 and the input processing section111 is not limited to that which is illustrated. For example, some orall of the input sensor 110 and the input processing section 111 may beprovided as a digital stationery device such as a pen-shaped device.

The ink data processing section 100 includes an ink data generationsection 120 and an ink data formatting section 140. The ink dataprocessing section 100 (more specifically the ink data generationsection 120) is responsible for generating ink data 200 based on the penevent data (“INPUT 1”) received from the input processing section 111,context information (“INPUT 2”) and manipulation information (“INPUT 3”)received from the application section 300-1. The ink data processingsection 100 is typically realized as a set of libraries that aredynamically and/or statically linked to the application section 300-1.

The context information (“INPUT 2”) is information describing thecontext or environment of the pen event data (“INPUT 1”) and mayindicate, for example, a used pen tip type (e.g., brush, crayon,pencil), used pen colors (red, green, blue), etc. The contextinformation is selected by the application section 300-1 typically priorto entry of input data into the input sensor 110.

The manipulation information (“INPUT 3”) specifies that the next inputfrom the input sensor 110 is not to be treated as typical pen event data(a normal stroke object 210) but is a command to apply some manipulationoperation (e.g., slicing, erasing, extracting, deleting, copying,enlarging, etc.) to a pre-existing stroke object 210. When INPUT 3 isreceived, the ink data generation section 120 generates a new strokeobject #j and manipulation object to be applied to pre-existing strokeobjects #0˜#i caused by the new stroke object #1. Manipulationinformation (“INPUT 3”) may be generated and inputted to the ink datageneration section 120 by user selection of a defined switch, button,etc., in an application supported in the application section 300-1.

The ink data generation section 120 receives the pen event data (“INPUT1”), the context information (“INPUT 2”), and the manipulationinformation (“INPUT 3”) and generates “ink data” (ink data 200) (atpoint “D” in FIG. 5) including a stroke object 210, a drawing styleobject 230, a manipulation object 270 and a metadata object 250. Furtherdetails of the ink data generation section 120 will be described belowin reference to FIG. 6.

Still referring to FIG. 5, the ink data formatting section 140 of theink data processing section 100 receives the ink data from the ink datageneration section 120, via point “D,” and outputs the ink data in aformat selected according to format selection information (Fmt-Sel)received from the application section 300-1.

Specifically, the ink data formatting section 140 includes an ink datacommunication section 144 and a recording format data processing section142. The ink data communication section 144 is configured to transmit(via “F” in FIG. 5) and receive (via “F_in” in FIG. 5) the ink data 200in a stroke message format (SMF), which is a format suited forcommunicating the ink data 200 (in real time, for example) to other(remote) devices over a network. The recording format data processingsection 142 is configured to format the ink data in a stroke file format(SFF) (see “E” in FIG. 5), which is a format suited for storing the inkdata 200 in a more permanent storage medium.

The graphic processing section 300 receives the ink data 200 includingstroke objects 210, drawing style objects 230, manipulation objects 270and metadata objects 250, via “D,” and outputs, via “H,” a set of pixelvalues at a defined resolution level including color (e.g., RGB) valuesof the pixels. For example, the graphic processing section 300 receivespoint objects (p1˜pn) that form a stroke object 210 (see FIG. 3A),interpolates curves between the point objects used as control pointsaccording to a curve interpolation algorithm, and draws (renders) theresulting path of the stroke object 210 on the display 113 usingassociated GPU libraries such as DirectX® and OpenGL® libraries.

According to various embodiments, the graphic processing section 300uses the point objects contained in the received stroke object 210 ascontrol points to interpolate curves according to a suitable curveinterpolation algorithm such as the Catmull-Rom Curve algorithm and thePoly-Bezier Curve algorithm known in the art.

Furthermore, in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the presentinvention, the graphic processing section 300 displays a stroke object210 in reference to the “start Parameter” value 301 and the “endParameter” value 303 included in the stroke object 210. In other words,the graphic processing section 300 renders (displays) only a portion ofthe stroke object 210 delineated (bound) by the “start Parameter” value301 and the “end Parameter” value 303. As used herein, (to be) displayedmeans being displayed in the end. Various methods may be used to setwhether a defined portion is to be displayed or not. For example, amethod may be used not to include vertex information, to be supplied toa GPU library, for the defined portion not to be displayed, to therebynot generate pixel data for the defined portion. As another example, amethod may be used to set the transparency of the defined portion not tobe displayed, in a fully reproduced stroke object 210, at 100%.

The application section 300-1 includes one or more user applications,such as Application #1 of FIG. 1, which dynamically or statically linkthe ink data processing section 100. For example, the applicationsection 300-1 may include a real-time conference application, a documentgeneration application, a drawing application, etc., which may all usethe ink data 200 according to embodiments of the present invention. Theapplications in the application section 300-1 provide, for example, auser interface (UI) that allows a user to enter manipulation information(“INPUT 3”) to the ink data processing section 100.

FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram of the ink data processing section100, which includes the ink data generation section 120 and the ink dataformatting section 140.

The ink data generation section 120 includes a stroke object handlingsection 122, a metadata object handling section 124, a drawing styleobject handling section 126, and a manipulation object handling section128, which are respectively configured to handle and generate strokeobjects 210, metadata objects 250, drawing style objects 230, andmanipulation objects 270 that collectively form the ink data 200according to embodiments of the present invention.

The stroke object handling section 122 receives the pen event data(“INPUT 1”) and generates a stroke object 210 (see “D” in FIG. 6). Thestroke object handling section 122 generates point objects of the rawvalue type, as described above, to form a stroke object 210. Inexemplary embodiments, the stroke object handling section 122continuously generates the point objects as pen event data are inputted,instead of waiting to receive the entire pen event data before startingto generate the point objects. The stroke object handling section 122continuously outputs the generated point objects to the graphicprocessing section 300 (see FIG. 5) or to the ink data formattingsection 140, via “D,” as will be more fully described below in referenceto FIG. 7. Application 300-1 may control stroke object handling section122 to switch between outputting ink data 200 of raw value type andoutputting ink data 200 of optimized value type depending on, forexample, whether application 300-1 performs real time communication orneeds highly-compressed vector data.

The metadata object handling section 124, upon receipt of the pen eventdata (“INPUT 1”) indicative of start of a pen stroke (i.e., “pen down”)or upon generation of a new stroke object 210 (upon slicing, forexample), processes the context information (“INPUT 2”) to extractnon-drawing related information such as author information, date andtime information, etc. The metadata object handling section 124 createsa metadata object 250 including the extracted metadata in associationwith the corresponding stroke object 210.

The drawing style object handling section 126, upon receipt of the penevent data (“INPUT 1”) indicative of pen down or upon generation of anew stroke object 210, processes the context information (“INPUT 2”) toextract drawing-related information necessary to express the strokeobject 210 on a display. The drawing style object handling section 126creates a drawing style object 230 (e.g., the Shape Fill object 232 andthe Particle Scatter object 234) in association with the correspondingstroke object 210.

The manipulation object handling section 128, upon receipt of themanipulation information (“INPUT 3”), generates a manipulation object270 that defines a manipulative or transformative operation (e.g., the“Select (transform)” object 272 and the Slice object 274 in FIG. 2) tobe applied to the whole or, or to a part of, a pre-existing strokeobject 210.

In FIG. 6, two broken-line arrows “M1 (Local)” and “M2 (Remote)”indicate the direction of manipulation operation, i.e., where the targetstroke object 210 is to be manipulated or transformed. As shown,manipulation operation defined by a manipulation object 270 may beapplied locally (M1) to a stroke object 210 existing in the strokeobject handling section 122, or remotely (M2) via the ink dataformatting section 140 to a stroke object 210 existing on an externalnetwork such as in a remote reception device coupled to the network.

In FIG. 6, the stroke object 210, the metadata object 250, and thedrawing style object 230 are illustrated to be inputted to the recordingformat data processing section 142 and the ink data communicationsection 144 of the ink data formatting section 140, while themanipulation object 270 is inputted only to the ink data communicationsection 144 and not inputted to 142. The first three are preferablypermanently or semi-permanently stored and thus are formatted in thestroke file format (SFF), SVG format, InkML format, etc., which aresuited for storage. Also, when a new stroke object 210 is generated, thestroke object 210 and its associated metadata and drawing style objectsare communicated to the receiving side over a network and thus areprocessed in both of the ink data communication section 144 and therecording format data processing section 142. The manipulation object270, on the other hand, is transitory by nature because it defines somemanipulative operation to be applied to a pre-existing stroke object210. Once the manipulative operation is applied (committed) to thepre-existing stroke object 210, the manipulation object 270 is flushedfrom memory. Thus, the manipulation object 270 is typically formatted inthe stroke message format (SMF) suited for transmission over a network,and is not included in the stroke file format (SFF).

The recording format data processing section 142 of the ink dataformatting section 140 includes multiple processing sections 142-1,142-2, etc., for respectively outputting the ink data 200 in differentrecording formats (SFF, InkML of (D1), SVG of (D3), HTML5 of (D4),etc.). For example, the processing section 142-1 is configured to outputthe ink data 200 in the SFF and may employ Google's Protocol Buffers(https://developers.google.com/protocol-buffers/) and Message, toserialize the SFF file-formatted data. The processing section 142-2 mayperform format transformation processing to absorb any differencesbetween the SFF file, InkML of (D1), and SVG of (D3), such as anydifferences between the definitions of “trace” in (D1) and thedefinition of “path” in (D3) or “Canvas Path” in (D4.)

FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram of the stroke object handlingsection 122 in the ink data processing section 100. The stroke objecthandling section 122 is capable of continuously outputting pointobjects, which form a stroke object 210 in the “raw value type”, to thegraphic processing section 300 or to the ink data formatting section 140as an increasing amount of the pen event data is inputted. The strokeobject handling section 122 includes or is coupled to a memory device770.

The stroke object handling section 122 includes a start/end parametersetting section 122A, which sets start point and end point parameters, apath builder section 122B, which selects a suitable path builder basedon a device type, an adding to stroke section 122D, which controls howmany point objects should be added to a partially formed stroke object210, and a suffixing section 122E, which fills in a gap (“Lag” in FIG.8) at an end of a stroke object 210.

Fragmented data generated and stored in memory 770 are used for realtime transmission as fragments of a stroke object 210. Fragmented dataare transmitted per unit of byte or time, as will be more fullydescribed below in the second embodiment.

The start/end parameter setting section 122A, upon detection of a pendown event (start of a pen stroke) and a pen up event (end of a penstroke), sets the start Parameter 301 and the end Parameter 303 to theirinitial default values. For example, upon a pen down event, the startParameter 301 is set to its default value of “0” and, upon a pen upevent, the end Parameter 303 is set to its default value of “1.” Theinitial values of these parameters need not be stored in the memorydevice 770, and may be set, for example, in the form of a flag thatimplicitly indicates that these parameters are set to their defaultvalues.

The path builder section 122B is configured to select one path buildersuited for a particular type of pen event data outputted from the inputprocessing section 111, based on a SetInputDynamics value 701 includedin the context information (“INPUT 2”). For example, if pen event dataincludes pen pressure values, a PressurePath builder 122B1 is selectedthat includes a first (pressure) function f1 capable of deriving thestroke width (W) and transparency (A) based on the pen pressure values.On the other hand, if pen event data does not include pen pressurevalues, a Velocity Path builder 122B2 is selected. The Velocity Pathbuilder 122B2 includes a second (velocity) function f2 capable ofderiving the stroke width (W) and transparency (A) based on the penmovement speed, which is determined from the amount of change in thepoint coordinates or time stamps included in the pen event data. Inother words, the Velocity Path builder 122B2 substitutes velocity valuesfor pressure values used in the Pressure Path builder 122B1. Since allpen event data may be categorized into either a type including pressureinformation (Type 1) or a type not including pressure information (Type2), all types of pen event data may be processed by either thePressurePath builder 122B1 or the Velocity Path builder 122B2. Thisreason and how PressurePath builder 122B1 and VelocityPathBuildeer 122B2operates will be described below in reference to the third embodiment.

The stroke object handing section 122 also includes a smoothener 122C,which starts to apply smoothing operation to a stroke object 210 as itis generated before the stroke object 210 is completed, based on UseSmoothing information 705 included in the context information (“INPUT2”). Any suitable smoothing operation such as acceleration averaging,weight averaging, exponential smoothing, double-exponential smoothing,etc., may be used.

FIG. 8 illustrates a smoothing operation performed by the smoothener122C in row A and row B. Row A corresponds to point “A” in FIG. 7(before smoothing) and row B corresponds to point “B” in FIG. 7 (aftersmoothing). In row A, x1˜x10 represent X coordinates of 10 pointsobtained from the pen event data. In FIG. 8, x1˜x10 are (10, 20, 30, 45,60, 80, 90, 100, 110, 115).

In row B, x1′˜x10′ represent X coordinates of the 10 points after asmoothing operation has been applied. In the illustrated example, thefollowing exponential smoothing function is applied:X ₁ ′=α*X _((t-1))+(1−α)*X _((t-1))′  (Eq. 1)where the filter strength α=0.5.

In FIG. 8, x1′˜x10′ are (10, 15, 23, 34, 47, 63, 77, 88, 99, 108).

The smoothing operation performed by the smoothener 122C is applied on arolling basis to each of the points as their point coordinates arederived, to continuously output modified (smoothed) positions of thesepoints. Thus, from the time when a pen down event is detected, thestroke object handling section 122 starts to generate and output strokeobject 210 with “raw value type” instead of waiting to detect a pen upevent as a whole.

In row B, point x0′ is added in this case where the Catmull-Rom Curve isused to define an interpolation curve between each pair of controlpoints. As discussed above, the Catmull-Rom Curve defines each curvesegment with four control points including a start point (Pi) and an endpoint (Pi+1), and a point “before” the start point (Pi−1), and a point“after” the end point (Pi+2). Thus, to define a starting curve segmentbetween points x1′ and x2′, the start point x1′ is duplicated to createa new point x0′ (at the same position as x1′) that may be used withpoints x1′, x2′ and x3′ as control points for defining the curve segmentbetween x1′ and x2′. The position of the new point x0′ may be adjustedto a position where the Catmull-Rom Curve between x1′ and x2′ best fitsthe inputted stroke. By simply duplicating a value of x1′ (p1) to createa value of x0′ (p0), the process can instantly define a position of x0′and set components of a vector from x0′ (p0) to x1′ (p1) as zero. Theprocess is suited for real-time implementation (no need to wait for p2to generate p0), and does not unduly influence (e.g., pushing to oneside or another) the curvature of the curve segment between x1′ (p1) andx2′ (p2).

Referring back to FIG. 7, the adding to stroke section 122D determineshow many of the point objects are established and stored in the memorydevice 770 and thus can be added to a partial data of the stroke object210 to be outputted. In the illustrated embodiment, point objectsP1˜Pn−1 are established in the memory device 770 and determined to beadded to the partial data of the stroke object 210 to be outputted tothe graphic processing section 300 or to the ink data formatting section140 (instead of waiting for the entire stroke object to be completed).The graphic processing section 300 is capable of displaying thepartially formed stroke object. In other words the graphic processingsection 300 displays the stroke object starting with an initial dot asit continues to grow. The ink data formatting section 140 (or the inkdata communication section 144) is capable of formatting and sending theestablished partial data, as fragmented data of a stroke object, in atransmission format. The transmission method of the fragmented data willbe explained in greater detail in embodiment two.

Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, the suffixing section 122E fills in a gap(or “Lag”) between the inputted position at the end of a stroke object210 (x10, row A) and the smoothed position at the end of the strokeobject 210 (x10′, row B). In FIG. 8, row C illustrates the “Lag” filling(suffixing) operation. In the illustrated example, after the smoothingoperation, a “Lag” is created between the originally inputted positionx10 (115) and the smoothed position x10′ (108) at the end of the strokeobject 210. Depending on the content of the Use Smoothing information705 included in the context information (“INPUT 2”), the stroke objecthandling section 122 determines to either perform or not perform thesuffixing operation. The suffixing operation can be also invoked everytime when a new point object is added to the stroke object 210. In thiscase the suffixing operation provides the graphic processing section 300with point objects that can be used as a temporary visual preview. Thenewly generated points by the suffixing operation are not yet part ofthe final stroke object 210 and are, therefore, ignored by the ink dataformatting section 140 (or the ink data communication section 144) untilit is expressly added.

If the suffixing operation is to be performed, in the illustratedembodiment, the stroke object handling section 122 adds new pointobjects at x11′, x12′ and x13′. Point x12′ is added at the same positionas the originally inputted last position x10 (115) of row A. Point x11′is added at a smoothed point between points x10′ and x12′. Finally,because in this example the Catmull-Rom Curve is used to define aninterpolation curve between each pair of control points, the end pointx12′ is duplicated to create a new point x13′ (at the same position asx12′), which is needed to define an ending curve segment between x11′and x12′ as the Catmull-Rom Curve. The position of the new point x13′may be adjusted to a position where the Catmull-Rom Curve between x11′and x12′ best fits the inputted stroke. Also, even when the suffixingoperation is not to be performed, if the Catmull-Rom Curve is used, thelast smoothed point x10′ in row B may be duplicated to create a newpoint x10′ (new), which may be used with points x8′, x9′ and x10′ ascontrol points to define the last curve segment between x9′ and x10′ inthis case. By simply duplicating a value of x9′ to create a value ofx10′, the process can instantly define a position of x10′ at a neutralposition, without unduly influencing (e.g., pushing to one side oranother) the curvature of the curve segment between x8′ (p8) and x9′(p9).

In FIG. 8, row D illustrates the stroke object 210, which has beensmoothed (from row A to row B), suffixed at the end (from row B to rowC), and continuously outputted under the control of the adding to strokesection 122D. The stroke object 210 in this example is defined togenerate interpolation curves according to a Catmull-Rom Curvealgorithm, wherein each curve segment (Pi−Pi+1) is defined by fourcontrol points (Pi−1, Pi, Pi+1, Pi+2) and the resulting curve passesthrough all of the control points. Thus, the stroke object 210 includesa starting curve segment (x1′-x2′) defined by four control points x0′,x1′, x2′, x3, and includes an ending curve segment (x11′-x12′) definedby four control points x10′, x11′, x12′, x13′. The stroke object 210also includes the start parameter 301 for the starting curve segment(x1′-x2′), which is set to a default value of “0.0” by the start/endparameter setting section 122A. The default value of “0.0” means thatthe starting curve segment (x1′-x2′) is to be fully displayed (rendered,expressed) from the initial point x1′. The stroke object 210 furtherincludes the end parameter 303 for the ending curve segment (x11′-x12′),which is set to a default value of “1.0” by the start/end parametersetting section 122A. The default value of “1.0” means that the endingcurve segment (x11′-x12′) is to be fully displayed to the last pointx12′.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating a sample process performed by theink data processing section 100 of FIG. 6 to generate ink data 200. Theprocess starts with the ink data generation section 120 receiving penevent data (“INPUT 1”). In step S901, the stroke object handling section122 receives the pen event data as INPUT 1, which includes positioncoordinates (x, y) and timing information indicative of one of thefollowing three types of timing, and carries out processing according tothe determined timing:

-   -   1) Pen down time; when a pointer such as a finger or a pointing        device (e.g., pen-type device) comes into contact with another        (sensing) object;    -   2) Pen moving time; between a pen down time and a pen up time;    -   3) Pen up time; when a pointer is moved away (detached) from        another (sensing) object.

<1. A Processing Flow at Pen Down Time>

When the event type is “ACTION_DOWN” indicating a pen down event, instep S910, the stroke object handling section 122 sets the startparameter 301 of a starting curve segment of a stroke object 210 to benewly created to a default value (“0.0”). As described above, thedefault value (“0.0”) defines that the starting curve segment is to befully displayed from its initial point. At the same time, the strokeobject handling section 122 may also set the end parameter 303 of anending curve segment of the stroke object 210 to a default value (“1.0”)to define that the ending curve segment too is to be fully displayed toits last point.

In step S912, the stroke object handling section 122, based on aSetInputDynamics parameter 701 included in the context information(“INPUT 2” in FIG. 7), selects one path builder (e.g., 122B1 or 122B2 inFIG. 7) out of a plurality of path builders to use to build the strokeobject 210.

In step S914, the stroke object handling section 122, based on aNum_of_CHs parameter 703 included in the context information (“INPUT2”), determines a set of parameters to be outputted from the pathbuilder selected in step S912 above. A set of parameters to be outputtedmay be, for example, (x, y, W, A), (x, y, W), (x, y, A), or (x, y),where (x, y) are x, y coordinates of the point objects, W is a strokewidth value, and A is alpha (α) indicative of transparency (or opacity).In addition to the 2D coordinates (x, y), a “z” value may be added toproduce 3D coordinates.

In step S916, the stroke object handling section 122, based on the UseSmoothing parameter 705 included in the context information (“INPUT 2”),determines whether smoothing operation is to be applied to the set ofparameters outputted from the selected path builder. The Use Smoothingparameter 705 may also indicate to which ones of the parameters thesmoothing operation is applied.

When application of the smoothing is indicated (YES to step S916), instep S918, the indicated smoothing process is performed. FIG. 7illustrates a case in which the smoothing process is applied to (x, y,W) parameters, but is not applied to “A” (alpha) parameters. The contextinformation (“INPUT 2”) may additionally include sampling rateinformation of the input sensor 110, which the stroke object handlingsection 122 may use to select a smoothing process of desired strengthlevel. For example, when the sampling rate of the input sensor 110 islower (e.g., 10's of samples per second as opposed to 100's of samplesper second), a stronger smoothing process having a greater smoothnessvalue (effect) may be selected.

In step S919, setting parameters used above are outputted as attributesof the ink data 200. The parameters indicate, for example, whether thepoint objects included in a stroke object 210 are smoothed (whether S916is YES or NO) or the type or strength of smoothing filter that may beused. Based on the parameters, it can be determined whether the pointobjects included in the stroke object 210 are smoothed or not, should be(further) smoothed or not, or can be treated as the exact input datathat may be used, for example, in signature verification applications,etc.

In step 920, as illustrated above in reference to FIG. 8, row B, theinitial point (control point) x1′ is duplicated to generate a newcontrol point x0′ for defining a starting curve segment between x1′ andx2′ as a Catmull-Rom Curve.

In step S970, the ink data processing section 100 determines whetheranother (remote) user or computer exists, who may be sharing (e.g.,receiving, manipulating) the ink data 200 generated by the ink dataprocessing section 100 local computer.

If such other user exists, in step S972, the ink data processing section100, based on the Fmt-Sel parameter received from the applicationsection 300-1 (see FIG. 5), controls the ink data communication section144 to format the ink data 200 to be outputted in the stroke messageformat (SMF). The ink data communication section 144 first outputs amessage DATA_INK_BGNOS 1201 (see FIG. 12), which is a partial(fragmented) message including initial point coordinates and a drawingstyle object 230 necessary for the remote user's reception device todraw the (partial) stroke object 210. The reception device that receivesthe DATA_INK_BGNOS message 1201 may immediately start to render(display) the initial portion of the stroke object 210 in the specifiedshape, color, etc., using the received drawing style object 230, beforereceiving the remainder of the stroke object 210.

<2. A Processing Flow at Pen Moving Time>

Returning back to the initial step S901 of the flow chart, the ink datageneration section 120 receives another new event data (“INPUT 1”) anddetermines which type it is: pen down event, pen moving event, or pen upevent. When the event type is “ACTION_MOVE” indicating that a pen ismoving in the middle of the stroke object 210 between a start point andan end point, the ink data generation section 120 receives the x, ycoordinate values as well as time stamp and/or pen pressure informationas included in the pen event data depending on a particular input deviceused, and proceeds to step S930.

In step S930, the stroke object handling section 122, based on a UseSmoothing parameter 705 included in the context information (“INPUT 2”),determines whether smoothing operation is to be applied to the receivedset of parameters, (x, y, W, A) for example. The Smoothing parameter 705may additionally indicate to which ones of the parameters the smoothingoperation is applied. Operation of step S930 is the same as that of stepS916 described above.

When application of the smoothing is indicated (YES to step S930), instep S932, the indicated smoothing process is performed.

In step S934, the stroke object handling section 122 uses the adding tostroke section 122D to determine how many of the point objects areestablished and stored in the memory device 770 to be added to a partialdata of the stroke object 210 to be outputted. In this step the addingto stroke section 122D may also change the values of the point objectsbefore adding them to partial data. For example, the adding to strokesection 122D may change the value of alpha parameter on a random basisto simulate a ball pen that runs out of ink.

In step S974, similarly to step S970 described above, the ink dataprocessing section 100 determines whether another (remote) user existswho is sharing the ink data 200 generated by the ink data processingsection 100 in real time.

If such other user exists, in step S976, the ink data processing section100 uses the ink data communication section 144 to generate and output amessage DATA_INK_MVDOS 1203 (see FIG. 12), which is a partial(fragmented) message including point objects subsequent to the initialpoint object(s) included in the DATA_INK_BGNOS 1201 generated in stepS972 above. The number of point objects to be added to the messageDATA_INK_MVDOS 1203 is determined by the adding to stroke section 122Din step S934 above. Multiple DATA_INK_MVDOS messages may be generatedand outputted depending on size of the stroke object 210. The remoteuser's reception device that receives the DATA_INK_MVDOS message(s) 1203may continue to render (display) the middle portion of the stroke object210 in continuation to the initial portion of the stroke object 210.

<3. A Processing Flow at Pen Up Time>

Returning back to the initial step S901 of the flow chart, the ink datageneration section 120 receives another new event data (“INPUT 1”) anddetermines which type it is. When the event type is “ACTION_UP”indicating a pen up event (i.e., drawing of a stroke object 210 iscompleted and a pointer is removed), in step S950, the stroke objecthandling section 122 determines whether the smoothing operation is to beapplied to the received set of parameters, (x, y, W, A) for example, aswell as to which ones of the parameters the smoothing operation isapplied. Operation of step S950 is the same as that of steps S916 andS930 described above.

When application of the smoothing is indicated (YES to step S950), instep S952, the indicated smoothing process is performed. Also, when theUse Smoothing parameter 705 so indicates, the stroke object handlingsection 122 additionally performs the suffixing operation as shown inFIG. 8, row C. Depending on the content of the Use Smoothing parameter705, the suffixing operation is not necessarily performed. Also, whensmoothing operation is not performed, the suffixing operation is notnecessary and is not performed.

In step S953, also as illustrated in FIG. 8, row C, the end point(control point) x12′ is duplicated to generate a new control point x13′for defining an ending curve segment between x11′ and x12′ as aCatmull-Rom Curve.

In step S954, the stroke object handling section 122 sets the endparameter 303 of the ending curve segment (x11′-x12′) to a default value(“1.0”) indicating that the ending curve segment is to be fullydisplayed to its end point x12′. This step may be skipped when the endparameter 303 is already set to its default value in step S910 above.

In step S978, similarly to steps S970 and S978 described above, the inkdata processing section 100 determines whether another (remote) userexists who is sharing the ink data 200 generated by the ink dataprocessing section 100 in real time.

If such other user exists, in step S980, the ink data processing section100 uses the ink data communication section 144 to generate and output amessage DATA_INK_ENDOS 1205 (see FIG. 12), which is the last partial(fragmented) message including the last set of (suffixed) point objectsof the stroke object 210. The remote user's reception device thatreceives the DATA_INK_ENDOS message 1205 may recognize that it is thelast message for the stroke object 210 and completes the drawingoperation of the stroke object 210.

The methods and systems for generating and communicating ink data 200according to embodiments of the present invention described above arecapable of continuously inputting pen event data and simultaneouslyoutputting a partial stroke object 210 as it is built. A remote user'sreception device that receives the ink data 200 from the ink dataprocessing section 100 starts to display each stroke object 210 andcontinues to display the stroke object 210 as it grows without having towait to receive the entire stroke object 210.

According to various embodiments of the present invention, the smoothingoperation is selectively applied to the inputted pen event dataparameters. A suitable curve interpolation algorithm such as theCatmull-Rom Curve algorithm is applied to build interpolated curvesusing the smoothed point objects as control points.

FIG. 10 illustrates a sample stroke file format (SFF) proto (schema)file written in the Interface Definition Language (IDL), which may beoutputted to point “E” from the recording format data processing section142 of the ink data processing device of FIG. 5. The proto (schema) filedescribes how ink data 200 is serialized in a stroke file format as abyte sequence. Lines 02-07 of the illustrated proto file include datathat describes the information included in a drawing area (or drawing“canvas”). For example, Line 06 enclosed in a broken-line rectangledefines that a stroke object 210 is repeated multiple times in thedrawing area. Line 04 “decimalPrecision” defines the calculationaccuracy/resolution of a point object of the stroke object 210.

“decimal Precision” in Line 04 is preferably a logarithmic valueindicative of desired accuracy and/or resolution.

Lines 11-17 of the illustrated proto file represent a stroke object 210.For example, Line 12 indicates that the stroke object 210 includes arepeated plurality of “sint32”-type (variable byte size packet) pointobjects.

In some embodiments, a parameter of the second and subsequent pointobjects is defined by an offset (delta) value relative to thecorresponding parameter value of the initial point object or theimmediately preceding point object. Use of offset (relative) values, asopposed to absolute values, may help reduce the amount of data needed todefine the second and subsequent point objects that form a stroke object210.

For example, coordinates (x, y) of a point in Line 12 are determinedbased on the following processing that utilizes the decimalPrecision.

-   -   1. Converted from float to int32 by the following conversion:        x _(int)=(int)x _(float)*10^(decimalPrecision);    -   2. To the integer values is performed delta encoding:        x _(encoded)=[0]x _(int)[0];        x _(encoded) =[i]x _(int) [i−1]−x _(int) [i]; i>0

Processing 1: xfloat is float stored in a computing device. Thecoordinates of point object 212 are stored in the memory 770 as afloating decimal type value having relatively many bits, such as thefloat type and the double type. Xfloat is multiplied by10^(decimal Precision). The data type of the resulting value, xfloat isconverted (cast) to an integer type to thereby produce xint.

Processing 2: offsets of xint are derived. The derived offsets areencoded as “sint32”-type data.

Lines 13-14 enclosed in a broken-line rectangle define the startParameter 301 and the end Parameter 303 of the stroke object 210. Asillustrated, these parameters 301 and 303 are defined separately fromthe point objects that form the stroke object 210 as defined in Line 12.In the illustrated example, the start and end parameters 301 and 303 areexpressed as float type values, and are set to their default values of“0” and “1,” respectively. As described later, when a manipulation(slicing) operation is applied to the stroke object 210, the startand/or end parameters may be changed to new value(s).

Line 15 “variableStrokeWidth” stores the width values of the pluralityof points objects included in the stroke object 210. Similar to thepoint at Line 12, it uses “sint32”-type and the second and subsequentpoint objects' width is defined by an offset (delta). The presence ofthis parameter implies that each of the point objects included in thestroke object 210 is individually associated with its own width value.In other words, if this parameter does not exist, the stroke object 210has a fixed width stored in “strokeWidth” property at Line 16.

FIG. 11 illustrates a sample portion of stroke object 210 in the strokefile format (SFF), which may be outputted to point “E” from therecording format data processing section 142 of the ink data processingdevice of FIG. 5. The illustrated stroke object 210 in the stroke fileformat contains drawing style object 230, filter parameters(useSmoothing, filter strength) and the point objects p0˜p13 at xcoordinates x0′˜x13′ as illustrated in FIG. 8, row D. The startParameter field 1101 includes the start Parameter 301, and the endParameter field 1103 includes the end Parameter 303. The field “x0”(1105) includes the absolute x coordinate value of the initial pointobject of the stroke object 210. The field “rel_x1” (1107) includes thex coordinate offset (delta) value of the second point object of thestroke object 210 relative to the absolute x coordinate value of theinitial point object.

FIG. 12 illustrates three messages formatted in the stroke messageformat (SMF), which may be outputted to point “F” from the ink datacommunication section 144 of the ink data processing device of FIG. 5,and one packet outputted to point “G” from the network communicationssection 112 of the ink data processing device of FIG. 5.

The DATA_INK_BGNOS 1201 message, outputted in step S972 of FIG. 9,includes information indicating that the message is the first message ofthe stroke object 210 (e.g., message type BGNOS, F101), the drawing areaID (F102) that indicates a common drawing area shared between the inkdata processing device and a remote user's reception device, and strokeID that is used to identify the stroke object 210 from among multiplestroke objects 210 within the drawing area (F103). F101, F102 and F103constitute a message header.

The DATA_INK_BGNOS 1201 message further includes the drawing styleobject 230 (F104), filter parameters related to smoothing filter applied(not shown), and the start Parameter and the end Parameter (F105_SP_EP),and optionally (if room permits) any of the initial fragmented data ofthe point objects that form part of the stroke object 210 (F105_begin),followed by a CRC error correction value. For example, “F105_begin”field may contain point objects p0˜p3 of FIG. 8. F104, F105_SP_EP,F105_begin and CRC fields constitute a message payload.

The reason why F104 is included in DATA_INK_BGNOS 1201 is describedbelow in reference to the second embodiment. Parameters related tosmoothing filter are included in the first message, DATA_INK_BGNOS 1201,so that a device that receives stroke object 210 can immediatelydetermine whether to apply smoothing filtering processing to the pointobjects included in the stroke object 210 at the beginning of thereception of the stroke object 210.

The DATA_INK_MVDOS 1203 message, outputted in step S976 of FIG. 9,includes the message header including a message type field (“MVDOS”)F101, the drawing area ID field F102, and the stroke ID field F103. TheDATA_INK_MVDOS 1203 message also includes the second fragmented data(F105_moved) including point objects subsequent to those included in theDATA_INK_BGNOS 1201 message. For example, “F105_moved” field may containpoint objects p4˜p8 of FIG. 8. Unlike the first data message, theDATA_INK_MVDOS 1203 message does not include the drawing style object230 (F104) and is identified as a subsequent (not first) type of datamessage (MVDOS) in F101. The DATA_INK_MVDOS 1203 message includes thesame drawing area ID (F102) and the same stroke ID (F103) as the firstdata message.

The DATA_INK_ENDOS 1205 message, outputted in step S980 of FIG. 9, isthe last data message for the stroke object 210 and includes the lastfragmented data of the stroke object 210 (F105_end), which may be forexample point objects p9˜p13 of FIG. 8. The DATA_INK_ENDOS 1205 messageis identified as a last data message (ENDOS) in F101 and includes thesame drawing area ID (F102) and the same stroke ID (F103) as the firstdata message. The last data message includes a metadata object 250 inF109, which includes non-drawing related information such as authorinformation.

The three types of data messages described above are outputted to point“F” from the ink data communication section 144 of the ink dataprocessing device of FIG. 5. A packet “G” in the last row of FIG. 12 isa packet that includes all of these three types of data messages as apacket payload, which is outputted to point “G” from the networkcommunications section 112 (Tx, Rx) of the ink data processing device ofFIG. 5.

FIG. 13A illustrates a stroke object 210 subject to the Catmull-RomCurve interpolation operation, which is inputted via point “D” to thegraphic processing section 300 of the ink data processing device of FIG.5. (The stroke object 210 of FIG. 13A may also be inputted via point “D”to the ink data formatting section 140 as described above.) FIG. 13Billustrates how the stroke object 210 of FIG. 13A is outputted from thegraphic processing section 300 to point “H” to be drawn (rendered) onthe display 113 of the ink data processing device of FIG. 5.

In FIG. 13A, the stroke object 210 includes point objects p0˜p13, whichcorrespond to x0′˜x13′ illustrated in FIG. 8 above. The stroke object210 is subject to the Catmull-Rom Curve interpolation operation, thusall of the point object p0˜p13 are used as control points for generatinginterpolated curve segments which together form the curve shown in FIG.13A. For example, points p0˜p3 are used as control points to generate acurve segment between p1 and p2, points p1˜p4 are used as control pointsto generate a curve segment between p2 and p3, and so forth. Asillustrated, the resulting curve passes through all of the controlpoints p0˜p13.

One characteristic of the Catmull-Rom Curve is that, because each curvesegment is fully defined by four control points, the effect of movingone control point is local. For example, FIG. 13A illustrates that acurve segment 1301 between p6 and p7 is defined by four control points,p5, p6, p7 and p8. Moving one control point may impact at most fourcurve segments and does not affect the rest of the curve segmentsforming the curve. For example, moving p8 may impact at most four curvesegments of p6-p7, p7-p8, p8-p9 and p9-p10. The “local control”characteristic of the Catmull-Rom Curve makes it suitable for supportinga slicing operation on a stroke object 210, where it is desired for theresulting two new stroke objects 210 to retain as much (shape)information of the original stroke object 210 as necessary with aminimum amount of data. In other words, the “local control”characteristic allows each of the resulting slices to retain theoriginal shape with a minimum number of control points (to fullymaintain the shape of the curve from one end to the other end). Forexample, when the stroke object 210 of FIG. 13A is sliced at a curvesegment between p6 and p7, the first slice needs to retain only controlpoints p0˜p8 and the second slice needs to retain only control pointsp5˜p13. The Poly-Bezier Curve also has the “local control”characteristic and thus is suited for supporting a slicing operation.Unlike the Catmull-Rom Curve, however, the Poly-Bezier Curve needscontrol points that are not along the curve (i.e., the curve does notpass through all of its control points). Having to calculate and storethose control points outside the curve is an extra calculation steprequiring storage space that is not required with the Catmull-Rom Curve,in which all control points are provided by the point objects of astroke object 210. This difference makes the Catmull-Rom Curve, which iscomputationally less demanding, better suited for supporting real-timeapplications of ink data generation, manipulation, drawing, andcommunication.

FIG. 13B illustrates an example of actual rendering (drawing) of thestroke object 210 of FIG. 13A as outputted from the graphic processingsection 300 at point “H” in FIG. 5. FIG. 13B illustrates a range 1309 ofthe actual drawing that spans from the start position indicated by thestart parameter SP (“0.0”) of the starting curve segment 1305 to the endposition indicated by the end parameter EP (“1.0”) of the ending curvesegment 1307. Note that the first curve segment 1305 to be drawn isbetween p1 and p2 and not between p0 and p1 because p0 is used merely asa control point for defining the curve segment between p1 and p2.Similarly, the last curve segment 1307 to be drawn is between p11 andp12 and not between p12 and p13 because p13 is merely a control pointused to define the curve segment between p11-p12.

<Ink Data Manipulation (Slicing)>

A slicing operation made possible by the systems and methods of thepresent invention according to various embodiments is now described inreference to FIGS. 14-19.

FIG. 14 is a flow chart of a slicing operation applied to a pre-existingstroke object 210. The slicing operation is executed cooperatively bythe stroke object handling section 122 and the manipulation objecthandling section 128. The illustrated example assumes a slicingoperation as shown in FIG. 4B, wherein the newly-drawn Stroke_j 403slices the pre-existing stroke_i 401.

First, the ink data generation section 120 (the stroke object handlingsection 122) receives new pen event data (“INPUT 1”). In step S1401, twoprocessing threads starting from step S1403 and step S1405,respectively, are executed in parallel.

In the first processing thread, in step S1403, the ink data generationsection 120 generates a stroke object (Stroke_j) according to theprocess described in FIG. 9 above. In parallel in the second processingthread, in step S1405, the ink data generation section 120 (themanipulation object handling section 128) determines whethermanipulation information (“INPUT 3”) is associated with the pen eventdata (“INPUT 1”) which is used by the first processing thread togenerate the new stroke object 210. For example, the manipulationinformation (“INPUT3”) may indicate that the associated stroke object210 is to carry out a slicing operation.

If there is no such “INPUT 3” (NO to step S1405), the process proceedsto an end and the newly generated stroke object (Stroke_j) is handled asa normal stroke object 210. If there is “INPUT 3” associated with thestroke object 210 (YES to step S1405), the Stroke_j is treated as amanipulation object 270 to implement a slicing operation on one or morepre-existing stroke objects 210.

<Slicing Operation>

A loop starting from step S1407 through step S1423 is repeated for eachof the pre-existing stroke objects (stroke_1˜Stroke_j−1). In thisexample, the slicing operation embodied in the newly-generated Stroke_jis applied to each of the pre-existing stroke objects 210. There arevarious techniques that can be applied to skip strokes isolated, interms of positioning, from the manipulation object 270. For example, thestroke object handling section 122 can maintain indices with strokesegments within an area. The indices can be used by the manipulationobject handling section 128 to skip the unnecessary intersectioncalculations.

Step S1407 sets up the loop.

In step S1409, the manipulation object handling section 128 determineswhether the new Stroke_j 403 intersects a pre-existing stroke_i 401(i<j), as shown in FIG. 15A. FIG. 15 illustrates the new Stroke_jintersecting the pre-existing stroke_i at a cross-point P_intersect_Midbetween two control points p6 and p7 of the pre-existing stroke_i. Inthe illustrated example, since the new Stroke_j has a width, thecross-point is calculated as an intersection between a middle line(shown in solid line passing through points P2, P3, P4) of the newStroke_j and the pre-existing stroke_i.

Returning to FIG. 14, when it is determined in step S1409 that the newStroke_j does not intersect the pre-existing stroke_i, it means that theslicing operation is not to be applied to the pre-existing stroke_i. Theprocess increments i by 1 and determines whether the new Stroke_jintersects the next pre-existing stroke_i+1.

When it is determined in step S1409 that the new Stroke_j intersects thepre-existing stroke_i, the slicing operation of step S1411 is applied tothe pre-existing stroke_i.

In step S1413, as shown in FIG. 15B, the manipulation object handlingsection 128 derives two intersecting points P_intersect_L andP_intersect_R between two edges (in broken lines) of the new Stroke_jand the pre-existing stroke_i, respectively, based on the calculatedcross-point P_intersect_Mid (55,100) and “Width” (3.58) of the newStroke_j. In FIG. 15B, p6 is at (47, 100) and p7 is at (63,100) for thepre-existing stroke_i, while P2 is at (60,110) and P3 is at (50,90) forthe new slicing Stroke_j. As described above, the cross-pointP_intersect_Mid is calculated as an intersection between line p6_p7 andline P2_P3. The width of the new Stroke_j along the p6_p7 direction canbe derived as “Width”/sin θ≈4.0 (the “derived width”), where sinθ=(110−90)÷sqrt ((60−50)^2+(110−90)^2). The derived width of 4.0 is thenused to calculate the two intersecting points P_intersect_L andP_intersect_R, by adding or subtracting one half of the derived width toor from the cross-point P_intersect_Mid (55,100). In the illustratedexample P_intersect_L is found to be at (53, 100) and P_intersect_R isfound to be at (57, 100). There might be additional calculation thatwill take place in S1413. For example, if stroke_i and Stroke_j are notflat in the intersection area, then additional calculation should takeinto account the actual curvature in calculation of P_intersect_L andP_intersect_R.

In FIG. 14, in step S1415, the manipulation object handling section 128generates two instances of the stroke object_i resulting from theslicing operation as shown in FIGS. 16A and 17A, respectively. The twoinstances are of “slice” type. The first slice of FIG. 16A includescontrol points p0 through p8 to define curve segments between p2-p7, andthe second slice of FIG. 17A includes control points p5-p13 to definecurve segments between p6-p12. The first slice of FIG. 16A includes ahole segment 1801 between p6 and p7, at which the stroke_i is sliced, asthe ending curve segment. On the other hand, the second slice of FIG.17A includes the hole segment 1801 as the starting curve segment. Thefirst slice retains the default start parameter of “0.0” for thestarting curve segment p1_p2, but now needs a new end parameter for itsnewly-created ending curve segment p6_p7. Similarly the second sliceretains the default end parameter of “1.0” for the ending curve segmentp11_p12 but now needs a new start parameter for its newly-createdstarting curve segment p6_p7.

In step S1417, the manipulation object handling section 128 derives anew end parameter (new_EP1) value 303 for the first slice of FIG. 16A,as shown in FIG. 18A. In FIG. 18A, the new end parameter 1803(“new_EP1”) of the first slice is a value that indicates the position ofP_intersect_L (53,100) within the ending curve segment p6_p7 of thefirst slice. The new end parameter 1803 may be an absolute value (e.g.,(53,100)), a relative value (e.g., +6 along X direction from p6), or aratio of a distance between p6 and P_intersect_L relative to a distancebetween p6 and p7 (e.g., 6/16=0.375). A ratio is useful because it canbe used without further processing in interpolation calculationsperformed by various sections, for example the graphic processingsection 300 in FIG. 5.

FIG. 16B illustrates a data structure of parameters that define thefirst slice. The data structure includes the start parameter of “0.0”(default value, in float type) as well as the end parameter of “0.375”(ratio, in float type) derived in step S1417 above. In FIG. 16B, line 11indicates that the data structure defines a “slice” object which, oncefinalized (or committed), becomes a stroke object 210. Line 12“slice_from Index” is an index value (e.g., integer) that indicates thestart point object number of the slice. In the example of FIG. 16, the“slice_from Index” is “0” because the first slice starts at point p0.Line 13 “slice_to Index” is an index value (e.g., integer) thatindicates the end point object number of the slice, which is “8” in FIG.16 because the first slice ends at point p8 (the last point p8 is acontrol point for the ending curve segment p6_p7).

Returning to FIG. 14, in step S1419, the manipulation object handlingsection 128 derives a new start parameter (new_SP2) value 301 for thesecond slice of FIG. 17A, as shown in FIG. 18A. In FIG. 18A, the newstart parameter 1805 (“new_SP2”) of the second slice is a value thatindicates the position of P_intersect_R (57,100) within the startingcurve segment p6_07 of the second slice. The new start parameter may bean absolute value (e.g., (57,100), a relative value (e.g., +10 along Xdirection from p6), or a ratio of a distance between p6 andP_intersect_R relative to the distance between p6 and p7 (e.g.,10/16=0.625).

FIG. 17B illustrates a data structure of parameters that define thesecond slice. The data structure includes the end parameter of “1.0”(default value, in float type) as well as the start parameter of “0.625”(ratio, in float type) derived in step S1419 above. In FIG. 17B, line 21indicates that the data structure defines a “slice” object which, oncefinalized, becomes a stroke object 210. Line 22 “slice_from Index” is“5” because the second slice starts at point p5 (the first point p5 is acontrol point for the starting curve segment p6_p7). Line 23 “slice_toIndex” is “13” because the second slices ends at point p13.

Returning to FIG. 14, in step S1421, the manipulation object handlingsection 128 finalizes (or commits to) the first slice of FIG. 16B (firstslice object 274) and the second slice of FIG. 17B (second slice object274) to render them into the first newly-created stroke object 210 andthe second newly-created stroke object 210, respectively, and storesthem in the memory device 770. The finalizing step S1421 is a “M1(Local)” operation that occurs between the manipulation object handlingsection 128 and the stroke object handling section 122, as shown in FIG.6. At this point, the stroke object handling section 122 may discard thefirst and second “slice” objects and/or the original stroke object_i.

FIG. 16C illustrates a rendered (displayed) path of the finalized firststroke object 210, and FIG. 17C illustrates a rendered (displayed) pathof the finalized second stroke object 210. As shown in FIG. 16C, curvesegments between p1 and p6 are fully displayed, but as for the endingcurve segment between p6 and p7, only a portion up to the end pointindicated by the end parameter 303 (0.375) is displayed. The portionfrom p6 to the end point indicated by the end parameter 303 preciselyfollows the shape of the original stroke object 210 because thenewly-created first stroke object 210 retains the same control pointsp5-p8 that define the ending curve segment between p6 and p7 as includedin the original stroke object 210. Similarly, as shown in FIG. 17C,curve segments between p7 and p12 are fully displayed, but as for thestarting curve segment between p6 and p7, only a portion starting at thestart point indicated by the start parameter 301 (0.675) is displayed.The portion from the start point indicated by the start parameter 301 top7 precisely follows the shape of the original stroke object 210 becausethe newly-created second object retains the same control points p5˜p8that define the starting curve segment between p6 and p7 as included inthe original stroke object 210.

In FIG. 14, in step S1422, the manipulation object handling section 128may transmit the newly created first and second stroke objects 210 to areception device of a remote user, as will be more fully described belowin reference to FIGS. 20 and 21. The transmission step S1422 is a “M2(Remote)” operation as shown in FIG. 6, which occurs between themanipulation object handling section 128, via the ink data formattingsection 140, and a reception device of a remote user coupled to anetwork outside the ink data processing section 100. Alternatively, instep S1422, the manipulation object handling section 128 may transmitthe two slice objects 274 instead of the newly created stroke objects210. In that case step S1421 will be performed on the reception device.This will be fully described below in reference to FIG. 20.

In step S1423, the loop process repeated for each of the plurality ofpre-existing stroke objects 210 is completed.

In step S1427, the manipulation object handling section 128 flushes(discards) all slice objects 274 (if not already), which are created andused in the slicing operation step of S1411 above.

The slicing operation described above in effect replaces the originalstroke object 210, which is sliced, with two new stroke objects 210resulting from the slicing operation. Thus, after the two new strokeobjects 210 are created, the original stroke object 210 may bediscarded.

In the embodiment described in FIG. 14, the new stroke object_jassociated with manipulation information (“INPUT 3”) is treated as amanipulation object 270 configured to execute a slicing operation on oneor more pre-existing stroke objects 210. In other words, the strokeobject_j is used as a manipulation object 270.

In other embodiments, the slice objects 274 created during the slicingoperation step of S1411 in FIG. 14 may be used as a manipulation object270 to execute a slicing operation on one or more pre-existing strokeobjects 210 residing in one or more computers (10-1-1, 10-1-2, 10-3, . .. ) with which the pre-existing stroke objects 210 are shared. In thiscase the slice objects 274 are not discarded. Use of the slice objects274 as a manipulation object 270 will be more fully described below inreference to FIGS. 20 and 21A.

In still further embodiments, a hole segment object may be created thatdefines the hole segment 1801 shown in FIGS. 16A, 17A and 18A, and usedas a manipulation object 270 that executes a slicing operation on one ormore pre-existing stroke objects 210. FIG. 18B illustrates a datastructure of parameters that define the hole segment object. Line 01indicates that the data structure defines a “hole segment” object, whichis different from a slice object 274 and a stroke object 210. Line 02“hole_from Index” is an index value (e.g., integer) that indicates thestart point object number of the hole segment, which is “6” in thisexample because the hole segment is between p6 and p7. Line 03 “hole-endparameter” is “0.375” (ratio, in float type) derived in step S1417 ofFIG. 14, which indicates the end point of the ending curve segment ofthe first slice created by the hole segment 1801. Line 04 “hole_toIndex” is an index value (e.g., integer) that indicates the end pointobject number of the hole segment, which is “7” in this example becausethe hole segment is between p6 and p7. Line 05 “hole-start parameter” is“0.625” (ratio, in float type) derived in step S1419 of FIG. 14, whichindicates the start point of the starting curve segment of the secondslice created by the hole segment 1801. Use of the hole segment objectas a manipulation object 270 will be more fully described below inreference to FIGS. 20 and 21B.

While in the above-described embodiments, P_intersect_L is used as thenew end point of the first slice and P_intersect_R is used as the newstart point of the second slice, in other embodiments the same point maybe used as both the new end point of the first slice and the new startpoint of the second slice. For example, for ease of calculation,P_intersect_Mid may be used as both the new end point of the first sliceand the new end point of the second slice.

According to the embodiments of the invention described above, displayof a sliced curve segment (e.g., the “hole segment” 1801) is controlledby a new end parameter 303, which defines an end point at which displayof a first slice ends, and by a new start parameter 301, which defines astart point at which display of the second slice starts. Both of thefirst and second slices retain data that fully define the structure ofthe hole segment and merely limit what portion of the hole segment isdisplayed as part of the first slice or the second slice. Thus, theseslices when rendered (displayed) precisely follow the shape of theoriginal stroke object 210. Further, because the slices retain the samedata (e.g., control points) that fully define the hole segment as in theoriginal stroke object 210, there is no need to recalculate thepositions of control points or calculate new control points. The systemsand methods of the present invention are preferably used with a curveinterpolation algorithm having the “local control” characteristic asdiscussed above, such as the Catmull-Rom Curve and the Poly-BezierCurve. Then, the slices resulting from a slicing operation need toretain a minimum amount of data (e.g., a minimum number of controlpoints) to define the hole segment resulting from the slicing operation.

FIG. 19 illustrates a sample file in the stroke file format (SFF)containing the two newly-created stroke objects 210 as displayed inFIGS. 16C and 17C. FIG. 19 may be compared to FIG. 11 which illustratesa sample original stroke object file.

In FIG. 19, a broken-line box 1910 indicates a file containing the firstnewly-created stroke object 210 of FIG. 16C. The first stroke objectfile contains points x0˜x8 corresponding to point objects p0˜p8 of FIG.16C. The start parameter field 1912 includes the default value of “0.0”and the end parameter field 1914 includes the value of “0.375” derivedin step S1417 of FIG. 14. A broken-line box 1920 indicates a filecontaining the second newly-created stroke object 210 of FIG. 17C. Thesecond stroke object file contains points x5˜x13 corresponding to pointobjects p5˜p13 of FIG. 16C. The start parameter field 1922 includes thevalue of “0.675” derived in step S1419 of FIG. 14 and the end parameterfield 1924 includes the default value of “1.0.” The first stroke objectfile 1910 may be a rewritten/modified instance of the original strokeobject file (of FIG. 11), or may be duplicated from the original strokeobject file to form an independent copy. As used herein, a“newly-created” file may mean either of these types of files. The secondstroke object file 1920 may also be a duplicated copy of the originalstroke object file, as shown in field 1921 of FIG. 19.

FIG. 20 is a detailed flow chart of the ink data transmission processingat step S1422 of FIG. 14. In step 2012, the ink data processing section100 obtains, from the context information (“INPUT 2”), informationindicating (i) whether a remote user exists who shares the ink data 200(a set of stroke objects 210) generated by the ink data processingsection 100, and (ii) a message type to use for transmitting the inkdata 200 to the remote user.

In step 2014, the ink data formatting section 140 of the ink dataprocessing section 100 determines, based on information (i) above,whether the ink data 200 in the local device shared with another remotecomputer. If no remote user or computer using the ink data 200 currentlyexists, optionally in step S2022, the ink data formatting section 140may buffer two newly-generated stroke objects 210 in Type D messageshown in FIG. 21D (which corresponds to the SFF format file of FIG. 19).When a remote user later joins the ink data generation session of theink data processing section 100, the file formatting section 140 maysend Type D message to the remote user. At this time it is not necessaryto send the slicing manipulation object_j itself because the remoteuser, who did not view the slicing operation in real time, need onlyreceive the result of the slicing operation, i.e., the two newly createdstroke objects 210.

If it is determined in step S2014 that a remote user exists, in stepS2016, the ink data processing section 100 determines, based oninformation (ii) above, a message type to use to transmit the ink data200 to the remote user. A suitable message type may be selecteddepending on the type of manipulation operation supported by thereception device (see FIG. 22) of the remote user, a tolerance for timedelay in a particular application, an available amount of transmissionresources, etc. For example, when information (ii) indicates that thereception device of the remote user does not support any manipulation(e.g., slicing) operation, proceeding to step S2022, the ink dataformatting section 140 buffers and transmits only the result of theslicing operation, i.e., the newly-created stroke objects in Type Dmessage to the remote user.

In step S2016, if information (ii) above indicates that the receptiondevice of the remote user supports executing a stroke object 210 as amanipulation object 270 to slice one or more stroke objects 210 on thereception device, the process proceeds to step S2020. In step S2020, theink data formatting section 140 may use the ink data communicationsection 144 to transmit the manipulation (slicing) stroke object_j in amessage Type C as shown in FIG. 21C.

Type C message of FIG. 21C has a header including type field F101,drawing area ID field F102, and stroke ID field F103 that identifies thestroke object_j. The type field F101 indicates that the message is of a“slicer” type which implements (executes) a slicing operation. In thisexample, the “slicer” type indication in F101 constitutes themanipulation information (“INPUT 3”) that indicates that the associatedstroke object_j is a manipulation object 270. The payload portion ofType C message includes the manipulation (slicing) stroke object_jcontaining point objects p1˜pn. One advantage of using Type C message totransmit the stroke object_j as a manipulation object 270 is that itallows for the same slicing operation to occur simultaneously, in realtime, at both the transmission side and the reception side. This isbecause the transmission side, upon generating the stroke object_j, canvirtually simultaneously transmit the stroke object_j with manipulationinformation (“INPUT 3”) to the reception side so that both sides canthen execute the same manipulation stroke object_j simultaneously.

Referring back to step S2016 of FIG. 20, if information (ii) aboveindicates that the reception device of the remote user supportsexecuting a slice object 274 or a hole segment object as a manipulationobject 270 to slice one or more stroke objects 210 on the receptiondevice, the process proceeds to step S2018. In step S2018, the ink dataformatting section 140 may use the ink data communication section 144 totransmit the slice objects 274 (FIGS. 16B and 17B) as a manipulationobject 270 in a message Type A as shown in FIG. 21A. Alternatively, instep S2018, the ink data formatting section 140 may use the ink datacommunication section 144 to transmit the hole segment object (FIG. 18B)as a manipulation object 270 in a message Type B as shown in FIG. 21B.

Type A message in FIG. 21A has a header including type field F101,drawing area ID field F102, and stroke ID field F103 that identifies thestroke object_j. The payload portion of Type A message includes one ormore pairs of slice objects 274 resulting from slicing one or morepre-existing stroke objects 210 with the stroke object_j. FIG. 21Aillustrates two such pairs: slice (1st) and slice (2nd) in fieldsF111_31 and F111_32, respectively, which resulted from slicingpre-existing Stroke_3 with the stroke object_j; and slice (1st) andslice (2nd) in fields F111_i1 and F111_i2, respectively, which resultedfrom slicing pre-existing Stroke_i with the stroke object_j (descriptionof other pairs is omitted). The type field F101 of Type A messageindicates that the message is of a “slicer” type which implements(executes) a slicing operation. In this example, the “slicer” typeindication in F101 constitutes the manipulation information (“INPUT 3”)that indicates that the associated pairs of slice objects 274 form amanipulation object 270. A reception device that receives Type A messageextracts each pair of slice objects 274 and finalizes the slice objects274 in reference to the original (pre-existing) stroke object 210 to besliced, to generate two new stroke objects 210 which can then be drawnon a display. One advantage of using Type A message to transmit sliceobjects 274 as a manipulation object 270 is that the data size of sliceobjects 274 is generally smaller than the data size of a slicing strokeobject 210 (the stroke object_j) included in Type C message and the datasize of newly-created stroke objects 210 included in Type D message.

Type B message in FIG. 21B has a header including type field F101,drawing area ID field F102, and stroke ID field F103 that identifies thestroke object_j. The payload portion of Type B message includes one ormore hole segment objects resulting from slicing one or morepre-existing stroke objects with the stroke object_j. FIG. 21Billustrates two hole segment objects: hole segment stroke_3 in fieldF111_3 H, resulted from slicing pre-existing Stroke_3 with the strokeobject_j; and hole segment stroke_i in field F111_iH, resulted fromslicing pre-existing Stroke_i with the stroke object_j (description ofother hole segment objects is omitted). The type field F101 of Type Bmessage indicates that the message is of a “slicer” type whichimplements (executes) a slicing operation. In this example, the “slicer”type indication in F101 constitutes the manipulation information (“INPUT3”) that indicates that the associated hole segment objects form amanipulation object 270. A reception device that receives Type B messageextracts and executes each hole segment object in reference to theoriginal (pre-existing) stroke object 210 to be sliced, to generate twonew stroke objects 210 which can then be drawn on a display. Similar toType A message described above, one advantage of Type B message totransmit hole segment objects as a manipulation object 270 is that thedata size of hole segment objects is generally smaller than the datasize of a slicing stroke object 210 (the stroke object_j) included inType C message and the data size of newly-created stroke objectsincluded in Type D message.

FIG. 22 is a functional block diagram of an ink data reception deviceconfigured to remotely receive ink data 200 via a network according toembodiments of the present invention.

The reception device includes a network communications section 310 (Rx,Tx), an ink data processing section 100R, an application section 300-2,a graphic processing section 300R, a display 113R, and an operatingsystem 400-2. In exemplary embodiments, the ink data processing section100R is embodied in libraries that realize the ink data processingsection 100 on the transmission side. Thus, the reception devicegenerally performs counterpart functions corresponding to the functionsperformed by the ink data processing section 100.

In FIG. 22, points “D,” “E,” “F_in,” “G” and “H” correspond to therespective points in the ink data processing section 100 on thetransmission side. In FIG. 22, M2′ (Remote) indicates a point at which amanipulation object 270 transmitted from M2 (Remote) on the transmissionside is received. M1 (Local) indicates a point that corresponds to M1(Remote) on the transmission side, where the processing to finalize(commit to) slice objects 274 performed in step S1421 of FIG. 4 isperformed, except that in FIG. 22 the slice objects 274 (or amanipulation stroke object 210 that produces the slice objects 274) arenot internally generated but are received from the transmission side.

The network communications section 310 (Tx, Rx) receives packets via aWAN or wireless/wired LAN interface and extracts various ink datamessages as described in FIG. 12.

The ink data processing section 100R includes an ink data formattingsection 140R and an ink data generation section 120R. The ink dataformatting section 140R corresponds to the ink data formatting section140 on the transmission side, and similarly includes a recording formathandling section 142R configured to receive ink data 200 in arecording-type stroke file format (SFF) via point “E” and an ink datacommunication section 144R configured to receive ink data 200 in acommunication-type stroke message format (SMF) via point “F_in.” Thedata communication section 144R determines, based on a value containedin a header field F101 of a received message (“INPUT 3”), whether areceived message includes a manipulation object 270, i.e., a specialtype of stroke object 210 (e.g., SLICER type stroke object), a sliceobject 274, or a hole segment object configured to execute amanipulation (slicing) operation on one or more pre-existing strokeobjects.

The ink data generation section 120R corresponds to the ink datageneration section 120 on the transmission side. Unlike the ink dataprocessing device on the transmission side, the reception device (whichdoes not include an input sensor 110) does not receive pen event data togenerate a stroke object 210. Instead, the ink data generation section120R receives various objects such as stroke objects 210, manipulationobjects 270, drawing style objects 230 and metadata objects 250. The inkdata generation section 120R uses a stroke object handling section 122and a manipulation object handling section 128 to process (e.g.,manipulate) the received stroke objects 210, and stores the manipulated(transformed) stroke objects 210 in a memory device 770.

The graphic processing section 300R carries out processing correspondingto that carried out by the graphic processing section 300 on thetransmission side. As shown in FIGS. 13A and 13B, the graphic processingsection 300R reconstructs a stroke (path) by generating interpolatedcurves according to a curve interpolation algorithm such as theCatmull-Rom Curve algorithm using point objects contained in a strokeobject 210 as control points. The graphic processing section 300Rfurther controls the range (portion) of the stroke object 210 to bedisplayed in reference to a start parameter and an end parameter definedfor the stroke object 210. For example, if the start parameter is 0.5and the end parameter is 0.5, the graphic processing section 300R startsto draw (display) the stroke object 210 from a midpoint of its startingcurve segment and stops displaying the stroke object 210 at a midpointof its ending curve segment. The graphic processing section 300R alsoadds width, color, and other graphical properties to the rendered strokeobject 210 in reference to a drawing style object 230 received inassociation with the stroke object 210.

The display 113R corresponds to the display 113 on the transmissionside. The application section 300-2 is supported by the operating system400-2 and is dynamically or statically linked to the libraries thatrealize the ink data processing section 100R. The application section300-2 may include applications that are the same as, similar to, ordifferent from the applications supported in the application section300-1 on the transmission side.

FIG. 23 is a flow chart illustrating a reception processing of amanipulation (slicing) object, which may be performed by the receptiondevice of FIG. 22, according to embodiments of the present invention.

In step S2301, the ink data formatting section 140R receives ink datamessages received via the network communication section 310 and extractsthe type of message included in each message from the type field F101included in a message header (“INPUT 3”).

In step S2303, the ink data formatting section 140R determines whether amessage contains a regular stroke object 210 or a manipulation object270. As described above, a manipulation object 270 may be any of astroke object 210, a slice object 274, or a hole segment object,associated with manipulation information (“INPUT 3”).

A stroke object 210 may be in the stroke message format (SMF) file as inFIG. 12 or in the stroke file format (SFF) file as in FIG. 11. Amanipulation object 270 is preferably in the SMF file, as shown in FIGS.21A-21C.

If it is determined that a regular stroke object 210 is received, instep S2305, the stroke object handling section 122 adds the receivedstroke object 210 in the memory device 770R.

If it is determined that a manipulation (slicing) object is received, instep S2311, the manipulation object handling section 128 extracts one ormore manipulation objects included in the received message and, in stepS2313, generates a list of the extracted manipulation objects. Forexample, if Type A message of FIG. 21A is received, the list identifiesthe two pairs of slice objects 274 in fields F111_31, F111_32, F111_i1,and F111_i2 as manipulation objects (description of other pairs isomitted). If Type B message of FIG. 21B is received, the list identifiesthe two hole segment objects in fields F111_3H and F111_iH asmanipulation objects (description of other hole segment objects isomitted). If Type C message of FIG. 21C is received, the list identifiesthe stroke object_j as a manipulation object 270.

The following steps S2315-S2318 will be repeated for each of themanipulation objects included in the list.

In step S2315, the manipulation object handling section 128 determines atarget stroke object 210 to which the manipulation object 270 is to beapplied. For example, in case of Type A message of FIG. 21A, it isdetermined that the manipulation object 270 in the form of the pair ofslice objects 274 in fields F111_31, F111_32 is applied to pre-existingStroke 3, and that the manipulation object 270 in the form of the pairof slice objects 274 in fields F111_i1 and F111_i2 is applied topre-existing Stroke_i.

In step S2317, the manipulation object handling section 128 applies themanipulation object 270 to the target stroke object 210 identified instep S2315 to carry out a manipulation operation, and commits(finalizes) the manipulation operation so as to generate fully-definedstroke objects. The generated stroke objects are then stored in thememory device 770R of the stroke object handling section 122. Operationof step S2317 generally corresponds to operation of step S1421 in FIG.14. In short, committing or finalizing a manipulation operation reflectsthe result of the manipulation operation in resulting stroke objects.

In step S2318, the manipulation object handling section 128 determineswhether all of the manipulation objects identified in the list of stepS2313 have been executed on their respective target stroke objects. Ifnot, the process returns to step S2315 to process the next (remaining)manipulation object 270.

If all of the manipulation objects identified in the list have beenexecuted on their respective target stroke objects and theirmanipulation operations have been committed (finalized) to generate anew set of stroke objects, in step S2319, the manipulation objecthandling section 128 flushes the slice objects 274 and hole segmentobjects (if any) used as the manipulation objects.

While the ink data processing section 100 on the transmission side andthe ink data processing section 100R on the reception side are describedas a software library operating on the operating system 400-1 or 400-2,the ink data processing sections 100 and 100R may be realized in adifferent manner, such as in an application-specific integrated circuit(ASIC) or an IC.

Thus, according to the ink data processing method of the firstembodiment, it is possible to modify or manipulate (e.g., slice) aportion of a stroke object 210, and transmit themodification/manipulation to one or more other computing devices, asillustrated in FIG. 91.

Second Embodiment

A second embodiment of the present invention is directed to methods andsystems for communicating (transmitting, relaying, receiving andprocessing, and streaming) ink data 200, among multiple devices(transmission devices, relay servers, reception devices) that share acommon drawing area. In particular, the methods and systems enablesuperimposing multiple layers of ink data 200 respectively generated bydifferent devices within the common drawing area real-time, in the rightcommunication order and in a timely manner.

The second embodiments of the invention are particularly suited forrealizing real-time collaboration applications, in which multiple userscan enter hand-drawn (freehand) input to a common drawing area (orcanvas) at the same time in real time.

For use in real-time collaboration applications, the present inventionprovides methods and systems capable of generating ink data 200 with afull set of attributes (color, trace or stroke width, rendering(drawing) style, etc.), which can be shared without perceivable timedelay thanks to novel communications/reproductions schemes in whichtransmission timings of fragments of ink data 200 are controlled.

According to one aspect, ink data 200 includes stroke objectsrespectively generated (drawn) using different types of devices and adrawing style object 230 that characterizes the stroke objects (e.g.,what type of pen tip is used to draw a stroke object), and the ink data200 is rendered within a common drawing area. Some applications such asreal time collaboration applications have strict (fast) timerequirements while other applications do not have such strict timerequirements. Apparatuses and methods according to an aspect of theinvention are configured to transmit/relay/receive the ink data 200 in atimely manner, in the right order and in the right format, according torequirements of a particular application in use.

According to one aspect, the present invention provides a methodimplemented by a transmission device to communicate with multiplereception devices that respectively share a drawing area with thetransmission device, wherein the transmission device transmits to themultiple reception devices ink data 200 representative of traces ofinput operation detected by an input sensor of the transmission device.The method includes generally three steps: (a) an ink data generationstep, (b) a message formation step, and (c) a transmission step. The inkdata generation step includes: (i) continuously inputting pen even data(INPUT 1) generated according to movement of a pointer, and generatingfragmented data of a stroke object, wherein the stroke object containsmultiple point objects to represent a trace of said movement of thepointer, the fragmented data being generated per defined unit T, and(ii) generating a drawing style object 230 based on context information(INPUT 2) at a pen down time corresponding to generation of the penevent data at a beginning point of said trace, wherein the drawing styleobject 230 defines a rendition form of said trace of the stroke object.The message formation step includes: (i) generating a first message thatincludes the drawing style object 230, and (ii) generating one or moresecond messages subsequent to the first message, the one or more secondmessages including the fragmented data. Finally the transmission stepincludes transmitting the first message and the one or more secondmessages in sequence according to a defined communications protocol.

According to another aspect, a relay method is provided for receivingink data 200 representative of traces of input operation detected by aninput sensor of a transmission device and relaying the received ink data200 to multiple reception devices that respectively share a drawing areawith the transmission device. The method includes generally four steps:(a) a reception step, (b) a control step, (c) a data message relay step,and (d) a transmission step. The reception step includes receiving acontrol message including information regarding the drawing area andreceiving a data message including the ink data 200 to be rendered inthe drawing area. The control step includes updating a connection listthat lists communications addresses of the multiple reception devicesthat share the drawing area. The data message relay step includes: (i)determining whether to permit updating of the drawing area based on astroke object 210 included in the data message, (ii) if the updating ispermitted, generating a new data message to be relayed to the receptiondevice listed in said connection list directly or via another relayingdevice, and (iii) if the updating is not permitted, generating a rejectmessage indicating that a request for updating of the drawing area isrejected. Finally the transmission step includes transmitting the newdata message in a communications packet to the reception device.

According to a further aspect, the invention provides a method ofreceiving ink data 200 including generally four steps. The first stepincludes receiving a first fragment of a stroke object 210 in a messageassociated with a first fragment ID. The second step includes receivinga third fragment of the stroke object 210 in a message associated with athird fragment ID, wherein the third fragment ID is not consecutive withthe first fragment ID. The third step includes interpolating a missingsecond fragment of the stroke object 210 based on the received first andthird fragments of the stroke object 210 and displaying the interpolatedsecond fragment. The fourth step includes, after receiving an end of thestroke object 210, transmitting a request including a stroke ID of thestroke object 210 to request retransmission of the stroke object 210 asa whole.

According to yet another aspect, a method is provided of streaming inkdata 200 including multiple stroke objects using a server in which theink data 200 is stored. The method includes generally two steps. Thefirst step includes reading the stored stroke objects sequentially. Thesecond step includes transmitting the stroke objects from the server toone or more receiving devices at defined timings that respectivelycorrespond to sequential portions of the stroke objects.

Description of the Second Embodiment

FIG. 1 described above in reference to the first embodiment illustratesan overall system in which ink data 200 may be generated andcommunicated (transmitted, relayed, received, processed, streamed, etc.)according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Forexample, Device 10-3 in FIG. 1 may combine (synthesize) the ink data 200respectively outputted from Device 10-1-1 and Device 10-1-2, in realtime, using an application provided by Application Service #2, which maybe a real-time collaboration type application. Device 3 may render(draw) on its screen the ink data 200 outputted from Device 10-1-1 andDevice 10-1-2 as different layers that are superimposed on one anotherin real time.

The ink data 200 generated and communicated amongst different devicesaccording to embodiments of the present invention are shared by varioustypes of devices, computers, operating systems, or applications overcommunications resources.

FIG. 25 is an entity relationship diagram of an information model forthe ink data 200. FIG. 25 differs from FIG. 2 in that the stroke object210 of FIG. 25 need not include startParameter 301 or endParameter 303,but otherwise is the same as FIG. 2. The ink data 200 according toembodiments of the present invention include a stroke object 210 (orstroke object set 202) (see FIG. 3A) and a drawing style object (set)230 including information needed to control the shape and color of astroke object 210 when rendered (drawn, visualized, rasterized). FIGS.3B and 3C, described above in reference to the first embodiments,respectively illustrate two rendering (drawing) results according to twodifferent drawing style objects 230 of the same stroke object 210 ofFIG. 3A. The ink data 200 further include a metadata object (set) 250including non-drawing related information that describes a stroke object210, such as authorship, pen ID, locally obtained date and timeinformation, location information obtained by GPS, etc. The ink data 200still further include a manipulation object (set) including informationneeded to manipulate (e.g., select, rotate, slice) a pre-existing strokeobject 210. Such information is organized in the form of manipulationobjects, each of which is executable on a pre-existing stroke object 210to effect desired manipulation of the stroke object 210. Othermanipulation objects may include, for example, cropping (deleting),erasing, copying, enlarging and shrinking manipulation objects.

FIG. 3A illustrates a stroke object 210, which contains multiple pointobjects (Point_1 . . . Point_n). The stroke object 210 includesinformation that represents a trace of movement of a pointer. Thepointer may be a pen-type implement or a finger. Specifically, thestroke object 210 includes coordinates of the multiple point objects(Point_1 . . . Point_n) that form the trace. Each of the point objectsmay be associated with attributes such as its radius, color,transparency (opacity) value, etc.

The coordinates of the multiple point objects (Point_1 . . . Point_n)are obtained or derived from suitably sampling a pen event data (orpointer operation), which are generated according to movement of apointer, and interpolating the sampled points as necessary. As describedabove in reference to the first embodiment, to represent the trace as asmooth curve, suitable curve algorithms such as the Catmull-Rominterpolation algorithm may be employed.

There are generally two methods for generating (x, y) coordinates ofmultiple point objects. First, the points derived per unit time from penevent data are outputted, while the pen event data are being inputted,as points of “raw value type.” Second, after all points forming a strokeare entered, a higher-order function representative of a fitted curve (aCatmull-Rom curve, a Bezier curve, etc.) for the stroke is generated,and a minimum number of point objects needed to express the fitted curveare obtained as points of “optimized point type.” According to oneembodiment of the present invention, depending on the timing constraintson ink data 200 communications requested by each application, the twomethods of generating (x, y) coordinates are selectively switched.

As illustrated in the different rendering results of FIGS. 3B and 3C,each drawing style object 230 includes information regarding the uniqueform in which the trace is rendered (drawn or expressed) on a screen ordisplay, i.e., how the trace appears on the screen or display. Thus, useof different drawing style objects to render the same stroke object 210results in different renditions of the stroke object 210 in terms of howthey appear. The form of a trace may be defined by one or more of ashape of a point object (e.g., a circle in FIG. 3B and a flake or petalin FIG. 3C), width of the trace (e.g., the radius of each circle in FIG.3B or the size of each flake in FIG. 3C), any angle or offset associatedwith each point object (see FIG. 3C), color of the trace (or colors ofthe point objects), transparency/opacity of the trace (or of the pointobjects), texture of the trace (or texture of the point objects), etc.The information needed to draw a stroke object 210 is included in adrawing style object 230 associated with the stroke object 210.

FIG. 26 is an overall communications system diagram according toembodiments of the present invention. The communications system includesa transmission device 10-1, a relay server 10-2, and multiple receptiondevices 10-3, 10-4 . . . 10-n, which all share and use a group oflibrary resources 10 as shown in FIG. 1. The relay server 10-2 can bealso part of globally distributed peer-to-peer network of relayingservers (similar to content delivery network) for increased performance.The system of FIG. 26 is suited for implementing transmission, relay andreception methods of ink data 200 to achieve real-time collaborationaccording to embodiments of the present invention.

The transmission device 10-1 of FIG. 26 corresponds to Device 10-1-1 orDevice 10-1-2 of FIG. 1.

The transmission device 10-1 includes an input sensor 110, inputprocessing section (not shown), ink data processing section 100T, anapplication section 300-1, and a communications section 112 (“Tx Rx”).Ink data processing section 100T corresponds to 100T in FIG. 5 of thefirst embodiment. The application section 300-1 includes one or moreuser applications, which are linked to the ink data processing section100T and supported by the group of library resources 10 (FIG. 1). In theillustrated embodiment, the application section 300-1 executes areal-time collaboration application #1 that utilizes a real-timecommunications function.

The relay server 10-2, typically a relaying server, embodies andprovides an ink data exchange service. In the illustrated embodiment,the relay server 10-2 serves transmission device 10-1 and receptiondevices 10-3, 10-4 . . . 10-n, which are remotely located from the relayserver 10-2, by exchanging or relaying ink data 200 in real time.

The relay server 10-2 includes a communications section (510 Rx, 511Tx), an ink data relay section 540, an application control section 520,and a repository configured to store canvas data (or drawing area data),to be described more fully below. According to an aspect of theinvention, the repository stores information regarding the latest stateof a drawing area (canvas), which is continuously updated, in the strokefile format (SFF) as illustrated in FIG. 28. Upon request fromtransmission/reception devices, the relay server 10-2 returns the lateststate of the common drawing area to the requesting devices such thatthey all can share the up-to-date state of the drawing area (i.e., whatthe “canvas” currently looks like). According to one aspect, the relayserver 10-2 absorbs differences in communications protocols used bymultiple devices, to permit communication and exchange of ink data 200amongst those devices.

The reception devices 10-3, 10-4 . . . 10-n each correspond to Device 3in FIG. 1, and include a communications section (310 “Rx Tx”), an inkdata processing section 100R, a graphic processing section 300, and anapplication section 300-2. The application section 300-2 executesApplication #2, which utilizes the definition and communicationsprotocol of the ink data 200 processed in the ink data processingsection 100R. Application #2 of the reception device may be the same asApplication #1 used by the transmission device 10-1, or may be differentas long as both Applications #1 and #2 share the same definition andcommunications protocol of ink data 200.

The division among the transmission device 10-1, the relay server 10-2,and the reception devices 10-3, 10-4 . . . 10-n, as shown in FIG. 26 isfor ease of illustration only, and the various functions of thesedevices may be partially or fully consolidated, or may be furtherdivided and distributed, according to each application andimplementation of an embodiment of the present invention. For example,the reception device 10-3 may be equipped to perform the ink dataprocessing functions (“ink data generation” 120T and “ink dataformatting” 140T to be described in FIG. 27) of the transmission device10-1, or the transmission device 10-1 may be equipped to perform the inkdata processing functions (“ink data formatting” 140R and “ink datageneration” 120R to be described in FIG. 31) of the reception device10-3. In some implementations multiple transmission devices exist, whilein other implementations no transmission device exists. In the lattercase, for example, the relay server 10-2 retains ink data 200 in itsrepository and streams the ink data 200 to one or more client receptiondevices 10-3, 10-4 . . . 10-n.

In FIG. 26, arrows in broken lines illustrate flow of ink data controlmessages, such as control messages that set a common drawing area (orcanvas) on which the ink data 200 inputted via multiple devices aresuperimposed as multiple layers. Names of the ink data control messagesstart with a prefix “CTRL_”.

Arrows in solid lines illustrate flow of ink data messages, includingthe actual ink data 200 inputted via multiple devices to be superimposedon one another in the common drawing area. Names of the ink datamessages start with a prefix “DATA_INK_”.

“SMF” s (Stroke Message Format) shown in FIG. 26 are messages generatedand arranged in packets in a transmission format, as illustrated in FIG.34 to be described below. Briefly, ink data 200 in a transmission formatare suited for real-time communication without perceived delay. Forexample, point objects of the “raw value type” described above may beused to form a stroke object 210 of the transmission format.

“SFF” s (Stroke File Format) shown in FIG. 26 are messages generated andarranged in a recording format, as illustrated in FIG. 28 to bedescribed below. Briefly, ink data 200 in a recording format arecompressed and are suited for storage. For example, point objects of the“optimized point type” described above may be used to form a strokeobject 210 of the recording format. As further example, in SMFtransmission format color information may be processed in RGB while inSFF recording format color information may be processed in YCC forcompression efficiency.

In various embodiments of the invention, the transmission format (e.g.,SMF) is used to communicate and exchange ink data 200 amongst multipledevices in real time, while the recording format (e.g., SFF) is used tostore the common drawing area (canvas) in a repository (which may besent to each device upon initial access).

A broken-line arrow “A. CTRL_JOIN_REQ” is a message issued when atransmission device 10-1 first joins an editing session of a commondrawing area provided by a collaboration service. The transmissiondevice 10-1 may be the first device to join the common drawing area, ormay be a latecomer that joins an editing session already commenced byother transmission devices. The broken-line arrow “A. CTRL_JOIN_REQ”indicates a transmission direction of a message that the transmissiondevice 10-1 sends out, to set a drawing area (or canvas) to be sharedwith the reception devices 10-3, 10-4 . . . 10-n. The CTRL_JOIN_REQmessage may include or be associated with a message containinginformation regarding the transmission device's environment (e.g., a setof parameters that describe its transmission/reception environment) tobe negotiated with, or shared with, the relay server 10-2.

For example, parameters that describe a transmission device'stransmission/reception environment include communications parameterssuch as a stroke transmission/reception unit (size), messageretransmission control setting, etc. (FIG. 30A, 524-1), drawingparameters that define a pen tool set, coordinates system, etc. (FIG.30B, 524-2), and user policy parameters such as priority over resourcecompetition, block user list, etc. (FIG. 30C, 524-3).

A broken-line arrow “B. CTRL_JOIN_REP” indicates a transmissiondirection of a response message that the relay server 10-2 sends out, inresponse to the CTRL_JOIN_REQ message. CTRL_JOIN_REP includesenvironmental data necessary for the transmission device 10-1 totransmit its ink data 200, and in particular, the environmental data mayinclude information regarding the latest state of the drawing area(canvas) of the reception devices 10-3, 10-4 . . . 10-n.

A solid-line arrow “C. DATA_INK_BGNOS,” “DATA_INK_MVDOS” . . .“DATA_INK_ENDOS” (see FIG. 34) indicates a transmission direction of theink data 200 that the transmission device 10-1 sends, as updatingmessages to update the drawing area (or canvas), to the relay server 102at the timings and in the transmission format pursuant to a definedcommunications protocol to be described in detail later.

A solid-line allow “D. DATA_INK_BGNOS” and “DATA_INK_MVDOS” indicates atransmission direction of the ink data 200 processed by and sent out(broadcasted) by the relay server 10-2 to the reception devices 10-3,10-4 . . . 10-n, on respective communications lines.

FIG. 27 illustrates the transmission device 10-1 of FIG. 26 in afunctional block diagram. The transmission device 10-1 includes a(touch/pen) sensor 110, an input processing section 111, the ink dataprocessing section 100T, the application section 300-1, a networkcommunications section (Tx, Rx) 112T, a graphic processing section 300,a display 113, and an operating system 400-1.

The sensor 110 has a function to detect a user's handwriting motion oroperation (via a pointer such as a pen and a finger) and generates aninput data signal representative of the detected handwriting motion. Forexample, an electrostatic sensor, a pressure-sensitive sensor, anelectromagnetic resonance (EMR) based sensor may be used.

The input processing section 111 receives an input data signal that istypically dependent on a particular sensor device and its driver runningon an operating system 400-1, converts it to “pen event data” thatinclude sensed coordinate positions and other information such aspointer pressure information, and outputs the pen event data as “INPUT1.” The pen event data are still dependent on a particular sensor deviceused to detect the handwriting operation input. The input processingsection 111 is typically provided by a driver for the sensor 110 or alibrary that performs processing corresponding to the sensor driver. Forexample, when an electrostatic sensor is used, the input processing mayinclude processing to interpret a gesture based on continuously enteredinput, such as palm-rejection processing. Since the pen event data aresensor/device dependent, the pen event data may or may not includepointer pressure information or pointer tilt (angle) information,depending on whether the sensor 110 has pressure/tilt detection functionor not. The configuration of the sensor 110 and the input processingsection 111 is not limited to that which is illustrated, and all or partof the sensor 110 and the input processing section 111 may be providedin a digital stationery device such as a pen-shaped device.

The ink data processing section 100T includes an ink data generationsection 120T and an ink data formatting section 140T. The ink dataprocessing section 100T corresponds to 100T in FIG. 5 of the firstembodiment. The ink data processing section 100T is responsible forconverting the pen event data (“INPUT 1”), which may be sensor/devicedependent, to ink data 200 that can be used and shared by a variety ofapplications on a variety of devices.

The ink data generation section 120T retrieves or receives the pen eventdata, which are sensor/device dependent, and converts it todevice-independent ink data 200, which is a digital representation ofink that is applied (e.g., drawn, smudged, deposited, etc.) on paperusing a real pen. The ink data generation section 120T corresponds tostroke object handling section 122 in FIG. 7. The ink data generationsection 120T retrieves the ink data (point objects p0 to pn−1 stored ina memory 770 in FIG. 7) per defined unit T, such as a defined time unit(e.g., 5 msec) or a defined data size unit, to generate a stroke object210, or fragments (portions) of the stroke object 210, that represents atrace entered by a handwriting operation.

The ink data generation section 120T receives the pen event data (“INPUT1”) from the sensor 110, and also receives context information (“INPUT2”) from the application section 300-1 (e.g., a real-time collaborationapplication) or from an operating system (400-1).

The context information (“INPUT 2”) is information regarding the contextor environment of the pen event data at the time when a first part of astroke is drawn (i.e., at “pen-down”). The context information is set bythe application section 300-1 typically prior to generation of the penevent data by the sensor 110. For example, the context information mayinclude the type of pen tip used (e.g., brush, crayon, pencil),stroke/trace colors (red, green, blue), transparency (or opacity) value(alpha) of a pen stroke, stroke/trace width, etc. The ink datageneration section 120T generates a drawing style object 230, which isused to draw (render) a stroke object 210 on a display, based on thecontext information (“INPUT 2”) at the timing of the start of the penevent data (at S605 in FIG. 32, to be described later).

The context information (“INPUT 2”) also includes non-drawing relatedinformation about pen event data, such as author information, pen ID,date/time information, location information, etc. Based on suchnon-drawing related context information the ink data generation section120T generates a metadata object 250.

The ink data generation section 120T additionally receives amanipulation information (“INPUT 3”) from the application section 300-1.INPUT 3 specifies that the next input from the sensor 110 is not todefine a normal stroke object 210, but is to define a manipulationobject 270 that embodies and executes a manipulating operation (e.g.,slicing, deleting, copying, enlarging, etc.) on a pre-existing strokeobject 210. When INPUT 3 is received, with respect to one or more ofpre-existing stroke objects #0˜#i, the next stroke object # j is formedas a manipulation object 270 (e.g., a slicing object) and itsmanipulating operation is applied.

The ink data formatting section 140T includes an ink data communicationsection 144T and a recording format data processing section 142T. Ingeneral the ink data formatting section 140T formats (e.g., places intransmission packets) the fragmented data of a stroke generated perdefined unit T by the ink data generation section 120T. The ink dataformatting section 140T also formats drawing style objects 230, metadataobjects 250 and a manipulation objects 270 generated by the ink datageneration section 120T. The ink data formatting section 140T formatsvarious objects and the fragmented data of each stroke object 210 inmessages and in communications packets according to format selectioninformation (Fmt_Sel) received from the application section 300-1.

The ink data communication section 144T performs the following functionswhen the format selection information (Fmt_Sel) received from theapplication section 300-1 specifies use of a transmission format (e.g.,SMF) as an output format:

-   -   1) Inputs a stroke object 210 generated by the ink data        generation section 120T as fragmented (or complete) data per        defined unit T, and generates various types of data messages        (i.e., messages that start with prefix “DATA_INK_” as in        FIG. 34) according to parameters implicitly defined or        explicitly negotiated. (E.g., FIG. 30A, 524_1 c).    -   2) Inputs a drawing style object 230 generated by the ink data        generation section 120T and adds the drawing style object 230        (“F104” in FIG. 34) to a “first” data message (“DATA_INK_BGNOS”        in FIG. 34.)    -   3) Determines a unique stroke ID of the stroke object 210, and        adds the stroke ID (“F103” in FIG. 34) to all data messages        which include the fragmented data of the stroke object 210.    -   4) Adaptively performs retransmission processing (see FIGS. 35A,        35B and 36A) or abort processing (FIG. 37) upon receiving a        response message (“DATA_INK_NACK” in FIG. 36A or        “DATA_INK_REJOS” in FIG. 37) according to the negotiated        parameters (e.g., FIG. 30A, 524_1 f, with or without 524_1 a).

The recording format data processing section 142T processes the ink data200 generated according to the application section 300-1 into arecording format (e.g., SFF), which is different from the transmissionformat. For example, the ink data 200 in the recording format may beuploaded from the transmission device 10-1 to the relay server 10-2 toindicate a current state of a common drawing area (canvas), to be shared(accessed) by multiple users of the reception devices 10-3, 10-4 . . .10-n upon initial access to a real-time collaboration application.Instead of the recording format, on the other hand, the transmissionformat may be used to communicate ink data 200 in real time betweenmultiple devices.

FIG. 28 illustrates a sample recording format for use in embodiments ofthe present invention. The recording format differs from thetransmission format (of FIG. 34) in terms of the types of dataincluded/omitted, and the order and redundancy of data.

Types of Data Included/Omitted

For example, when a manipulation object 270 is generated to modifypreexisting stroke object 210, in the transmission format a manipulationobject 270 (e.g., slice object 274 as described above in reference tothe first embodiment), to transform the ink data 200 residing in one ormore computers is generated and transmitted. On the other hand, in therecording format, it suffices to record only the state after themanipulation (updating) has been completed, and thus it is not necessaryto retain the manipulation object 270 itself. Thus, the recording formatexample of FIG. 28 does not include any manipulation object 270.

Order and Redundancy of Data

A metadata object 250 includes non-drawing-related information about astroke object 210, such as author information, pen ID, etc., which isoften the same for a number of stroke objects 1-5 entered at the sametime, for example, when the same author using the same pen generatesmultiple stroke objects 1 through 5 in this order.

In the recording format, redundancy may be reduced because the entiredata content is known at the time of formatting data in the recordingformat. In the illustrated example, the same value of authorship may beapplied to all stroke objects 1-5, and thus the same value need not berepeated 5 times. Drawing-related information to be included in adrawing style object 230 may also include redundancy in some caseswhere, for example, the same type of pen tip shape (e.g., brush) is usedto draw multiple stroke objects. Thus, as another example, the samevalue of pen tip shape may be applied to stroke objects 1, 3 and 5,where this value need not be repeated 3 times in the recording format.Similarly, when the same value of pen tip shape is applied to strokeobjects 2 and 4, the value need not be repeated in the recording format.In this connection, it is not critical to maintain the time sequentialorder of stroke objects (i.e., the order in which they were entered) inthe recording format. Also, because each stroke object is fullycompleted when being put into a recording format, the total number ofpoint objects that form a stroke object may be included in the strokeobject itself.

On the other hand, in the transmission format, it is difficult torearrange the time sequential order of the stroke objects if real-timecommunication is of importance. In real-time communication, typically itis necessary to transmit information regarding stroke objects 1-5 in thetime sequential order as they are entered and generated. Also, whentransmitting fragmented data of a single stroke object, it is notpossible to know in advance how many point objects will be included inthe stroke object, and thus it may be necessary to indicate the lastfragmented data that completes the stroke object as such (and the lastfragmented data may include information regarding the total number ofpoint objects included in the stroke object).

According to embodiments of the present invention, the same amount ofinformation may be included in less bytes in the recording format thanin the transmission format, because the transmission format may need tohave redundancy and a rigid time sequential structure for the purpose ofachieving real-time communication without perceivable time delay. Thus,for the purpose of memory space saving, the latest drawing areainformation stored in the repository of the relay server 10-2 ispreferably in the recording format, which can then be accessed andretrieved by various devices connected to the relay server 10-2 using alesser amount of transmission resources.

Referring back to FIG. 27, the network communications section 112T (Tx,Rx) of the transmission device 10-1 generates communications packets(see FIG. 34), which include the messages generated by the ink dataprocessing section 100T as payload, and outputs the packets via anetwork interface connected to media (Ethernet, etc.)

Various communications protocols may be used based on implicit orexplicit (via negotiation) definition in view of communicationsenvironment as necessary. For example, a protocol that includes abuilt-in retransmission mechanism such as TCP or HTTP(S) over TCP or SSLmay be used (FIG. 35A), or a protocol that itself does not offer aretransmission mechanism such as UDP (or RTP/UDP) may be used (FIG.35B). Further, when UDP is used, either a message retransmissionmechanism may be employed (FIG. 36A) or a message retransmissionmechanism is omitted for the purpose of complying with time requirementsof real-time type applications (FIG. 36B). Also, it is possible to usedifferent communications protocols for control messages and datamessages, respectively. For example, it is possible to employ a protocolwith a retransmission mechanism to transmit control messages shown inbroken-line arrows, while employing a protocol without a retransmissionmechanism to transmit data messages shown in solid-line arrows.

The application section 300-1 provides an application that uses the inkdata transmission method according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. The application section 300-1 issues the CTRL_JOIN_REQ, etc.,via the network communications section 112T (Tx), to the relay server10-2 (in particular, 520 in FIG. 29) which manages the latest status ofthe common drawing area (or canvas). The application section 300-1determines the drawing area (canvas) on which to perform drawing usingan input device 110.

The application processing section 300-1 processes and provides to theink data processing section 100T of the transmission device 10-1 thefollowing information:

-   -   context information such as color information, pen tip shape,        authorship information, creation date and time (INPUT 2),    -   manipulation information that specifies that the incoming input        forms a manipulation object (INPUT 3), and/or    -   format selection information (Fmt Sel), which designates which        one of a transmission format and a recording format should be        selected.

The application processing section 300-1 is capable of receiving the inkdata 200 generated by the ink data generation section 120T to output toboth the remotely-located reception devices (10-3, 10-4 . . . 10-n) andto the transmission device's own local display or screen, if provided.

The graphic processing section 300 generates pixel data based on the inkdata 200. The graphic processing section 300 is capable of instantlydrawing (rendering) the stroke objects on the local display or screen,which may represent the state of the common drawing area in which inkdata 200 entered via multiple devices are superimposed as differentlayers.

The ink data transmission device 10-1 according to embodiments of thepresent invention determines the latest (updated) state of a drawingarea (canvas) for use, and processes pen event data continuously togenerate fragmented (or complete) data of a stroke object 210 perdefined unit T (e.g., 5 msec). The ink data transmission device 10-1further selects respective parts of context information (INPUT 2) togenerate an associated drawing style object 230 and a metadata object250, generates a manipulation object based on INPUT 3, and formats thegenerated objects in a transmission format (e.g., SMF) for transmissionto the relay server 10-2 and to the reception devices 10-3, 10-4 . . .10-n. The defined unit T may be adaptively determined based on a requestfrom a collaboration application.

FIG. 29 is a block diagram of the relay (or streaming) server 10-2. Therelay server 10-2 provides a real-time collaboration service by relayingfragmented data received from one or more transmission client devices toone or more reception client devices 10-3, 10-4 . . . 10-n. Thefunctions of the relay server 10-2 may be contained in a single device,or may be distributed amongst multiple servers linked by a network.

The relay server 10-2 includes a message reception section 510, adrawing area management section 520, an ink data relay section 540, anda message transmission section 511.

The message reception section 510 receives the control messages and datamessages, separately, from the transmission device 10-1. The messagesare transmitted between the transmission device 10-1 and the relayserver 10-2 in communications packets pursuant to a protocol(RTP/HTTP/HTTPS(SSL)/TCP/UDP/Websocket, etc.) and in a message type(fragmented, retransmission, maximum delay, etc.) which may bepredefined or may be defined based on on-demand negotiation between thedevices when the devices first join the common drawing area. Asillustrated, the message reception section 510 may employ multiplereception ports to distinguish between the control messages and the datamessages, though other methods may be used to distinguish between thecontrol messages and the data messages. For example, a separate device(server) for processing the control messages may be provided aside fromthe relay server 10-2 that processes the data messages, or a messageheader obtainable from a common reception socket buffer may be used todistinguish between the two types of messages.

The drawing area management section 520 manages the status of thedrawing area, in which ink data 200 inputted from multiple devices andexchanged through the relay server 10-2 are superimposed on one anotheras different layers. The drawing area management section 520 includes aservice management section 522 and a drawing area information managementsection 524.

The service management section 522 manages services that employ the inkdata relay method according to embodiments of the present invention. Theservice management section 522 cooperates with external servers (notshown) to perform, for example, accounting functions, authenticationfunction of new users, functions to provide a subscription-based viewingaccess to a common drawing area, to authorize or not authorize each userto enter ink data 200 to a common drawing area, etc., i.e., so-calledAAA (Accounting, Authenticating, Authorizing) functions.

The drawing area information management section 524 manages drawing areainformation used to control operations of ink data relay methods. Thedrawing area information includes generally three types of information(524_1 in FIG. 30A; 524_2 in FIG. 30B; and 524_3 in FIG. 30C). Thedrawing area information management section 524 manages the three typesof information, and based on the three types of information updates,maintains and purges a user connection list 541, which lists one or moreusers that are connected to each drawing area (canvas).

FIG. 30A shows a set of communications parameters 524_1 related totransmission and reception of ink data 200. The communicationsparameters are exchanged amongst communicating devices at the time ofapplication startup, for example. The communications parameters 524_1may include the following:

(524_1 a) Packet Retransmission parameter defines whether aretransmission mechanism is built in communications packets (or protocolstack) that are used to carry ink data 200. For example, when using TCP(with retransmission support) for transmission while using UDP (withoutretransmission support) for reception, TRUE is set for transmissionwhile FALSE is set for reception. This achieves robust and reliabletransmission of ink data 200 from a transmission device 10-1 to a relaydevice 10-2, while at the same time providing real-time,no-perceivable-time delay streaming of the ink data 200 from the relaydevice 10-2 to multiple reception devices 10-3, 10-4 . . . 10-n, forexample.

(524_1 b) MTU (Maximum Transmission Unit), MSS (Maximum Segment Size)parameter defines a MTU or MSS depending on the type of media (e.g.,Ethernet) to which a transmission device is connected (e.g., 146 bytes).

(524_1 c) Stroke Data Fragment Enable parameter sets whether to fragmenta stroke object 210 into fragments that are each less than the strokeobject 210 as a whole.

(524_1 d) maximum Rx delay parameter sets the maximum allowed receptiondelay, in milliseconds (msec) for example.

(524_1 e) Message Encryption scheme parameter defines whether encryptionis used and if used what encryption/decryption algorithm is used.

(524_1 f) Message Retransmission parameter defines, for a protocol suchas UDP that does not include a retransmission mechanism in thecommunications layer, whether to implement retransmission in the messagelayer. For example, the parameter is used to switch between usingretransmission in the message layer (FIG. 36A) and not usingretransmission in the message layer (FIG. 36B).

(524_1 g) Audio Sync ENABLE parameter defines whether audio and strokedata are synchronously reproduced or not, and may be used to determinewhether or not to transmit ink data 200 in fragments or in a completeform (per unit of stroke). For example, when audio and stroke data areto be synchronously reproduced, the stroke data may be fragmented witheach fragment time-stamped such that each fragment can then besynchronously reproduced with its corresponding audio data.

(524_1 z) Other Parameter set identifier defines a predetermined set ofcommunications parameters.

FIG. 30B shows a set of drawing parameters 524_2 related to drawing(rendering) of ink data 200, and may include the following:

(524_2 a) Drawing area ID parameter sets a common drawing area that auser device may join. In the illustrated example, FIG. 30B shows “#123,”which is a common drawing area (or canvas) ID. In some embodiments, therelay server 10-2 may present to a user multiple IDs of multiplecanvases, in which collaborative editing is on-going and from which theuser device may select one to join. In other embodiments when the userdevice is starting a new drawing area, a unique drawing area ID may beassigned to the newly started drawing area.

(524_2 b) User local canvas offset, rotation, scale parameter(s) definea relationship between the global coordinate system of the commondrawing area and the local coordinate system of a user device used tojoin an editing session in the common drawing area. For example, thisallows two different users to edit an upper portion and a lower portionof the ink data drawing from two different angles, respectively.

(524_2 d) Pen tool set ID parameter is an ID assigned to a collection ofpen parameters (pen tip shape, color, stroke width, inktransparency/opacity, etc.) that together define how a pen strokeappears on a drawing area. Multiple IDs may be predefined for multiplecollections, from which a user may select one at the time of joining acollaborative editing session on a common drawing area.

FIG. 30C shows a set of user policy parameters 524_3 related to policiesthat govern user access to a common drawing area, including stroke datapriority, filtering and quality of service (QoS), and may include thefollowing:

(524_3 a) User account priority parameter sets priority to stroke datain an ink data transmission service. In the illustrated example, theparameter is set to “High,” which means that the resource arbitration(or QoS) control 544 of the relay server 10-2 will process and transmitthe “High” priority stroke data preferentially over other stroke datawhose priority is set to “Low,” for example.

(524_3 b) Block user list includes other users that one user wishes toblock, i.e., from whom the user does not wish to receive ink data 200.The list may also include those users to whom the user does not wish totransmit ink data 200. Instead of listing those users to DENY receptionfrom or transmission to, it is also possible to list those users toACCEPT reception from or transmission to.

The ink data relay section 540 relays the data messages received fromthe transmission device 10-1 to one or more other reception devices inreference to the connection list 541, which lists all the devicescurrently connected to the drawing area into which the data messages areadded (drawn). The connection list 541 also lists what communications,drawing, and user policy protocols should be used to communicate witheach of the devices listed in the connection list 541. In variousembodiments, the ink data relay section 540 handles (forwards or drops)a stroke object message, not in the unit of a packet or in the unit of amessage, but as “one flow.”

The ink data relay section 540 includes a new stroke flow detectionsection 542, a resource arbitration (or QoS) control 544, a feedbacktransmission section 546 (DATA_ToSelf), and an all-cast transmissionsection 548 (DATA_ToOthers).

The new stroke flow detection section 542 checks the header of areceived message (Type field, F101 in FIG. 34) to determine if themessage includes a new stroke (“DATA_INK_BGNOS”), or the messageincludes the fragmented data of the same (current) stroke object 210 forwhich the relay processing has already started.

The resource arbitration (or QoS) control 544 controls transmissionresources in reference to the beginning end of each stroke object 210and if necessary in reference also to the ending end of the strokeobject 210. When processing the beginning end of a new stroke (BGNOS),the resource arbitration (or QoS) control 544 determines whether toaccept the new stroke into the drawing area (canvas) based on variouscriteria. For example, if a stroke ID of a stroke object 210 newlyreceived from a transmission device 10-1 is identical to one of thestroke IDs already used in the drawing area, the resource arbitration(or QoS) control 544 may reject the newly received stroke object 210having the same stroke ID. As another example, if network resources arefound insufficient to forward or handle a new stroke object 210 at aparticular time, it rejects entry of newly received stroke objects untilthe network resource condition improves. This will prevent a situationin which a user starts to enter a new stroke object 210 only to have toabort the entry process before finishing the stroke object 210 due tolack of sufficient networking or computing resources. As a furtherexample, if a particular device (user) is temporarily denied an updatingright, the resource arbitration (or QoS) control 544 rejects any strokeobjects generated by that particular device. For example, resources maybe preemptively allocated to processing stroke data transmitted from auser with “High” priority (524_3 a in FIG. 30C) over stroke datatransmitted from a user with “Low” priority. The resource arbitration(or QoS) control 544, when determining to reject a new stroke receivedfrom any of the devices, sends “REJECT” from the feedback transmissionsection 546. The resource arbitration (or QoS) control 544, whendetermining to accept a new stroke received from a device, sends(forwards) the new stroke to all of the other devices (except for thedevice that itself has sent the new stroke) via the all-casttransmission section 548.

According to various embodiments of the present invention, because eachstroke object 210 is fragmented into fragmented data and sent andrelayed sequentially, remotely located devices can share the strokeobject 210 as it is entered in real time without perceivable time delay.At the same time, the resource arbitration (or QoS) control 544 performsa traffic control function to resolve any conflicts amongst multipleusers and to ensure that sufficient resources are provided for everyuser that is granted a right to enter a new stroke object 210 (whiletemporarily preventing other users to make any entry while the firstuser is making an entry, for example).

The feedback transmission section 546 (DATA_ToSelf) sends back aresponse only to the transmission device 10-1 that has sent a message tothe relay server 10-2. For example, when the resource arbitration (orQoS) control 544 decides not to allow entry of a new stroke object 210by the transmission device 10-1, the feedback transmission section 546sends a reject message (see FIG. 37) only to the transmission device10-1.

The all-cast transmission section 548 (DATA_ToOthers) sends a message toall of the devices currently connected to the drawing area (as includedin the connection list 541), except the transmission device 10-1 thathas sent a message to the relay server 10-2. In the illustrated example,when a message is received from the transmission device 10-1 and isdetermined to be relay-able, the all-cast transmission section 548 sendsthe message to all of the reception devices 10-3, 10-4 . . . 10-n.

The relay server 10-2 thus receives ink data 200 from one transmissiondevice and selectively relays it to one or more reception devices whileoptimally controlling efficient use of the network resources as a whole.

FIG. 31 is a block diagram of the ink data reception device 10-3 of theink data communications system of FIG. 26. The reception device 10-3includes a network communications section 310 (Rx, Tx), the ink dataprocessing section 100R, the application section 300-2, the graphicprocessing section 300, and operating system 400-2.

The application section 300-2 running on the operating system 400-2includes an application that utilizes an ink data reception methodaccording to various embodiments of the present invention. Theapplication or type of operating system may be the same as theapplication (or type of operating system) of the application section300-1 of the transmission device 10-1, or may be different as long asboth applications allow entry, transmission and reception of ink data200 with each other through a common drawing area. This is because theink data 200, which is commonly defined (standardized) can betransmitted and received independently of a particular platform amongstdifferent applications and operating systems. At the initiation timingof the communication when the reception device 10-3 joins an editingsession of the common drawing area, the application section 300-2downloads the latest status of the drawing area (canvas), in which otherusers have perhaps superimposed their respective ink data 200 asdifferent layers.

The application 300-2 may upload the ink data 200 that it has generatedto the drawing area at the relay server 10-2. The ink data 200 generatedlocally by the reception device 10-3, perhaps prior to a collaborativeediting session, may be in the recording format, while the ink data 200generated in real time during a collaborative editing session may be inthe transmission format. Either the ink data 200 of the recording formator the transmission format may be uploaded to the relay server 10-2. Inthis connection, the application section 300-2 directs the graphicprocessing section 300 to output the ink data 200 generated by the inkdata generation section 120R to be superimposed in the drawing area.

The network communications section 310 (Tx, Rx) corresponds to thenetwork communications section 112T (Tx, Rx) of the transmission device10-1. The network communications section 310 receives communicationspackets (Pckt) via a network interface and extracts message(s) from thepayload portion of the packets. The reception protocol used by thereception device 10-2 may be different from the communications protocolused by the transmission device 10-1. For example, the transmissiondevice 10-1 may employ a protocol including retransmission mechanism,such as TCP and HTTP over TCP, HTTPS over SSL, to send messages to therelay server 10-2, while the relay server 10-2 may employ anot-so-reliable but suitable for streaming protocol such as UDP and RTPover UDP protocols to send messages to the reception device 10-2. Whichcommunications protocol to use may be determined through negotiation atthe commencement of communication amongst the communicating devices.

The ink data processing section 100R includes the ink data formattingsection 140R and the ink data generation section 120R, and extracts inkdata 200 from the ink data formatted in either the transmission formator in the recording format. The ink data processing section 100Rcorresponds to the ink data processing section 100T of the transmissiondevice 10-1.

The ink data formatting section 140R includes an ink data communicationsection 144R and a recording format handling section 142R. The ink datacommunication section 144R processes the ink data 200 as updated in thetransmission format. Specifically, the ink data communication section144R extracts information (e.g., stroke ID) in each data message andoutputs the fragmented data, which are fragments of a stroke object 210divided per unit T defined by the transmission side. The ink datacommunication section 144R also extracts the drawing style object 230included in the first of the messages for the stroke object 210, i.e.,“DATA_INK_BGNOS” message. The drawing style object 230 containsinformation necessary to render (draw) its associated stroke object(s).

The recording format handling section 142R receives and processes thedrawing area information in the recording format, as stored (archived)in the repository of the relay server 10-2, to reconstruct the latestdrawing area.

The application 300-2 controls the ink data generation section 120R toselectively receive ink data 200 from the ink data communication section144R or from the recording format handling section 142R according to theformat of the ink data output/input.

For example, when the application first joins a collaborative editingsession at a common drawing area, a “CTRL_JOIN_REQ” request is issued toretrieve the latest drawing area information in a file in the recordingformat (SFF). The retrieved ink data 200 of the latest drawing area isin the recording format and, as such, may be processed at the recordingformat handling section 142R. Subsequently retrieved ink data 200 may bein the transmission format (SMF), as in the form of “DATA_INK_BGNOS” andother messages (DATA INK*) as shown in FIG. 34 and, as such, may beprocessed at the ink data communication section 144R, one message (ormessages representing one stroke) at a time.

To achieve real-time processing of ink data 200, the ink datacommunication section 144R outputs the fragmented data of a strokeobject 210, as they are received, to the graphic processing section 300,instead of waiting to receive all point objects (or the fragmented data)that form the stroke object 210.

The ink data generation section 120R of the reception device 10-3performs reception processing corresponding to the transmissionprocessing of the ink data generation section 120T of the transmissiondevice 10-1.

The ink data 200 consisting of the stroke objects, each consisting ofmultiple point objects, and the drawing style object 230, metadataobject 250, and manipulation object associated with the stroke objectsare all already generated on the transmission side. Thus, they need notbe newly generated on the reception side. Rather, on the reception side,the ink data generation section 120R stores and updates the ink data 200in the form usable by its application #2. For example, the ink datageneration section 120R transforms the received ink data 200 in a firstdata type (e.g., integer type) into the ink data 200 of a second datatype usable by application #2 (e.g., float type, double type) andprovides the transformed data to the application section 300-2 or to thegraphic processing section 300 used by the application section 300-2.

The graphic processing section 300 of the reception device 10-3 issimilar to the graphic processing section 300 of the transmissionsection 10-1. The graphic processing section 300 performs processing togenerate pixel data based on received ink data 200, to display thestroke objects on a display screen 113 of the reception device 10-3.

FIG. 32 is a sequence diagram illustrating ink data communicationsbetween the transmission device 10-1, the relay server 10-2, and thereception device 10-3, according to embodiments of the invention.

In FIG. 32, the functions/sections of the transmission device 10-1, therelay server 10-2, and the reception device 10-3 are identified with thesame reference numbers as used in FIGS. 27, 29 and 31 above. Thesequence illustrates a case in which the transmission device 10-1 joinsa real-time collaboration session that has already started, in which inkdata 200 inputted by multiple users may be superimposed on one another.

<Starting the Application Section 300-1>

In step S601, the transmission device 10-1 activates the applicationsection 300-1 that utilizes an ink data communications method accordingto embodiments of the present invention. Activation of the applicationsection 300-1 triggers activation of the ink data generation section120T and the ink data formatting section 140T in the ink data processingsection 100.

First, the application section 300-1 of the transmission section 10-1issues a control message (CTRL_JOIN_REQ, with or without parameters524_1, 524_2, 524_3) that specifies one of multiple drawing areasretained in the drawing area management section 520 of the relay server10-2 as a target drawing area (524_2 a). The drawing area managementsection 520 of the relay server 10-2 returns the latest state of thespecified drawing area in a recording format (SFF), which may be highlycompressed, back to the transmission device 10-1 (CTRL_JOIN_REP). Then,the application section 300-1 invokes the recording format handlingsection 142T to reconstruct the latest state of the drawing area basedon the ink data 200 in the recording format. The transmission device10-1 thereby locally reconstructs (or initially constructs) theup-to-date state of the drawing area (or ink data current state), inwhich other devices such as the reception devices 10-3 and 10-4 may havealready started drawing (entering) ink data 200 superimposed on oneanother. At this point, the transmission device 10-1 enters intoinput-waiting state.

<Ink Data Transmission Processing>

The transmission device 10-1 executes ink data transmission processingby using detection of a “pen event data input start” as a trigger. Instep S605, the input processing section 111 of the transmission device10-1 detects input of a stroke beginning point. In FIG. 32, during thehatched duration “d”, the pen event data are continuously inputted tothe ink data processing section 100T from step S605 to step S609, duringwhich one stroke is drawn starting at a stroke beginning point andending at a stroke ending point (hereinafter referred to as “strokeunit”). During this time (duration d) the input processing section 111continuously outputs the pen event data per unit T (every S608), forexample every 5 msec, to the ink data generation section 120T.

The ink data processing section 100T uses the start of the pen eventdata input as a trigger to start the processing to generate a drawingstyle object 230 based on context information (INPUT 2) received fromthe application section 300-1. Specifically, based on the contextinformation (INPUT2) regarding the pen event data received from theapplication section 300-1, the ink data processing section 100 generatesa drawing style object 230, which includes information used to draw(render) a stroke object 210 on a common drawing area (canvas). The inkdata processing section 100 generates a drawing style object 230 byselectively extracting a portion of the context data that is needed forthe reception side to render drawing. The drawing style object 230includes information such as color (red, green blue) of a stroke(trace), pen tip type (brush, crayon, pencil), transparency or opacityvalue (alpha), whether transparency or opacity is allowed to vary withina stroke object 210, stroke (trace) width (e.g., 0.2-6.0 points),whether a stroke (trace) width is allowed to vary within a stroke object210, rasterization method, type of stroke texture, etc.

Generation of the drawing style object 230 is triggered by detection ofinput of a beginning point of a stroke object 210 based on input of penevent data, i.e., at S605 in FIG. 32. Thus, even when a user repeatedlychanges the colors of a pen prior to starting drawing operation, old(outdated) color information will not be included in the drawing styleobject 230 and thus will not be transmitted to the relay server 10-2 toclutter transmission resources, for example.

The ink data formatting section 140T (more specifically the ink datacommunication section 144T) of the ink data processing section 100T addsthe generated drawing style object 230 into the first data message(DATA_INK_BGNOS 1001) for the stroke object 210 being generated. (SeeFIG. 34).

The DATA_INK_BGNOS 1001 message includes information indicating that themessage is the first message for the stroke object 210 (e.g., messagetype BGNOS, F101), the drawing area ID (F102), stroke ID that is used touniquely identify the stroke object 210 within the drawing area (F103),the drawing style object 230 (F104), and optionally (if room permits)any of the fragmented data that form part of the stroke object 210(F105), followed by a CRC error correction value.

After generating and including the drawing style object 230 into thefirst data message (DATA_INK_BGNOS 1001), instead of waiting for receiptof “ACCEPT” message from the relay server 10-2, the transmission device10-1 continuously generates, per defined unit T that is smaller than thestroke unit, fragmented data, where multiple pieces of fragmented datatogether form one stroke object 210 (S608). Specifically, the ink datageneration section 120T processes the pen event data forming one stroke(or trace) per the defined unit T to produce ink data 200, and the inkdata formatting section 140T formats the fragmented data incommunications messages (“DATA_INK_MVDOS 1, 2 . . . n” in FIG. 34)corresponding to the defined unit T and assigns the stroke ID to each ofthe fragmented data in each message, until an end of the pen event datainput operation is detected.

The defined unit T as used herein may be a unit of time, which is thesame as or greater than the sampling time unit of the pen event datainput, for example 5 msec. Thus, unit T may be 5 msec, 50 msec, 200msec, etc. Alternatively or additionally, the defined unit T may be aunit of data size, such as a fixed length of 256 bytes and 512 bytes.Data (byte) size based unit T may be set smaller than the data (byte)size of a message transfer unit (MTU) according to a givencommunications protocol, as shown in FIG. 34. Further alternatively,unit T may be dynamically changed and switched between a time unit T anda data size unit T, for example.

The unit T may be adaptively or selectively set by the applicationsection 300-1 depending on each application or timing requirements. Forexample, for the purpose of allowing a stroke object 210 to continuouslyand growingly appear on the reception device 10-3 as if it is being“drawn” in real time, the application section 300-1 may set the unit Tto correspond to a minimum unit that allows necessary interpolationprocessing to occur between generated point objects. As another example,for the purpose of reducing communications overhead (amount of traffic)associated with having to send the same message header information(e.g., the stroke ID associated with every message for one stroke object210), the application section 300-1 may set the unit T as large aspossible, up to the unit of a stroke object itself (the stroke unit). Asanother example, for the purpose of reducing overall message in casethere is a big difference between pen event data input rate and displayrate (e.g., pen event input comes between 3-4 msec., but the displayrefreshes every 15 msec.) then the application section 300-1 may set theunit T to match the display rate. In this case each stroke fragmentedmessage will contain data for more than one point object.

FIG. 33 is a flow chart illustrating a method of determining unit T,which may be implemented in the transmission device 10-1 and/or therelay server 10-2. In step S701, it is determined whether parameter T isexplicitly negotiated between the transmission and reception devices orbetween the transmission/reception devices and the relay server 10-2. If“YES,” the explicitly negotiated value is set as the unit T. (StepS703). For example, the unit T may be negotiated and defined accordingto parameters that set a stroke data to be fragmented (S524_1 c “TRUE”)and set the maximum reception delay to be 100 msec (524_1 d “100” msec).If, on the other hand, the decision result of S701 is “NO,” othertime-related requirements of the applications 300-1 and 300-2 are usedto set unit T. For example, in step S705, it is determined whether inkdata 200 and other data (audio, video, etc.) are to be synchronouslyreproduced. If “YES,” in step S709, it is determined if “aggregation isrequested,” which will be described fully in reference to FIGS. 43 and44 below. If “NO,” then in step S711, unit T that is smaller than a unitcorresponding to one stroke is set as the unit T. Also, each(fragmented) data per the defined unit T is time stamped for the purposeof synchronous reproduction with other type(s) of data. If, on the otherhand, the decision result of S705 is “NO,” it is assumed that there areno particular timing constraints, and unit T is set to its defaultvalue, such as the unit of a stroke as a whole, for example.

Referring back to FIG. 32, when the input processing section 111 of thetransmission device 10-1 detects an end of the pen event data input(S609), i.e., when it detects an end of input operation of one strokeobject 210, the ink data processing section 100T generates a metadataobject 250 in step S611. The metadata object 250 includes informationregarding the generated stroke object 210 other than the informationused to draw (render) the stroke object 210 on a display (which isincluded in the drawing style object 230). For example, a metadataobject 250 includes author information, pen ID, etc.

<Ink Data Relay Processing>

The relay server 10-2 transfers the fragmented data for one strokeobject 210, as received in the data messages from the transmissiondevice 10-1, without modification to the reception device 10-3.

The relay server 10-2 first receives the first message (DATA_INK_BGNOS)of the stroke object 210 from the transmission device 10-1. Then, instep S613 (ACCEPT) of FIG. 32, the resource arbitration (or QoS) control544 determines whether or not to allow new entry (updating) of thestroke object 210 starting with its first message DATA_INK_BGNOS asreceived. The sequence of FIG. 32 illustrates a case in which theresource arbitration (or QoS) control 544 determines to allow entry ofthe stroke object 210 generated by the transmission device 10-1. Then,the relay server 10-2 stores the stroke ID so that it can identify andforward all subsequent data messages associated with the same stroke IDby merely checking the message headers, and forwards the first messageDATA_INK_BGNOS to the reception device 10-3.

The relay server 10-2 continues to forward subsequent data messages(DATA_INK_MVDOS) for the same stroke object 210, while checking thestroke ID included in their headers, without having the resourcearbitration (or QoS) control 544 make independent determinations as toeach of the subsequent data messages. Thus, the resource arbitrationdecision needs to be performed only once per each stroke.

In step S615, when the last one of the data messages for the strokeobject 210 (DATA_INK_ENDOS) is received, the relay server 10-2 forwardsthe last message to the reception device 10-3 and the resourcearbitration (or QoS) control 544 releases the processing resources ofthe relay server 10-2 to forward the stroke object 210, which is fullycompleted at this point.

As a post-processing operation following the completion of transfer ofone stroke object 210, in step S617, the stroke object 210 is added tothe drawing area as stored in the drawing area repository of the relayserver 10-2.

Because the relay (forwarding) process is performed per each strokeobject 210, the ink data 200 forwarded in the transmission format inreal time can be readily converted into the recording format at thecompletion of the relay process, to be stored in the repository in acompressed recording format. This allows for the relay server 10-2 toefficiently update the state of the common drawing area (or canvas)shared by multiple devices, each time it completes relaying a strokeobject 210 generated by one of the multiple devices to other device(s).

<Ink Data Reception Processing>

The reception device 10-3 first receives from the relay server 10-2 thefirst data message (DATA_INK_BGNOS) of the newly generated stroke object210, which includes the drawing style object 230. Using the informationincluded in the drawing style object 230, such as the color, pen tiptype, transparency/opacity, rendering method, etc., the reception device10-3 commences drawing (rendering) operation to draw the receivedfragmented data of the stroke object 210 on its display.

The ink data processing section 100R continues to process the fragmenteddata of the same stroke object 210 included in subsequently receiveddata messages, using the same information included in the drawing styleobject 230, to generate ink data 200 and output the ink data 200 to thegraphic processing section 300.

The graphic processing section 300 starts and continues drawing(rendering) process of the fragmented ink data 200 as they are received.Steps S617-1 to S617-n in FIG. 32 respectively represent the renderedforms of the stroke object 210 on the display at different times. FIG.32 shows that the stroke object 210 is continuously drawn as itsfragmented data are increasingly received and processed, from state G1,G2, G3 where the stroke object 210 is only partially, but growingly,drawn until state G4 where the stroke object 210 is completely drawn,similarly to how a user may see an actual pen stroke being drawn onpaper by another user.

FIG. 34 illustrates a sample transmission format of data messages,arranged in communications packets suitable for real-time communicationsamongst multiple devices according to one embodiment of the invention.The illustrated example uses a defined unit T that is smaller than amessage transfer unit (MTU) of a communications protocol defined by amedia interface (e.g., Ethernet) to which the transmission device 10-1is connected.

The communication packet at the top of FIG. 34 shows a communicationpacket outputted from the network communication section 112 of thetransmission device 10-1.

“DATA_INK_BGNOS” in FIG. 34 shows the first data message of multipledata messages for a new stroke object 210.

F101 field specifies the type of data message. F101 field of the firstdata message, “DATA_INK_BGNOS,” indicates “BGNOS”, meaning that it isthe first one of data messages for a new stroke object 210.

F102 field includes a drawing area ID of a drawing area, in which thenew stroke object 210 is to be added or superimposed.

F103 field includes a stroke ID of the stroke object 210. The stroke IDis uniquely assigned to each stroke object 210 as used in the commondrawing area. Various methods are possible to assign a unique stroke IDto each stroke object 210 per drawing area. For example, the (highest)stroke ID value currently used in the drawing area may be incremented toobtain a new unique ID to be assigned to a new stroke object 210, or apen ID value of a pen used to enter a new stroke object 210 may beincremented to obtain a unique stroke ID for the stroke object 210.Thus, the transmission device 10-1 may independently assign a uniquestroke ID to a new stroke object 210 that it generates. Also, asdiscussed above, the resource arbitration (or QoS) control 544 of therelay server 10-2 prevents use of overlapping stroke IDs if thetransmission device 10-1 fails to assign a unique stroke ID. Because thetransmission device 10-1 may independently assign a unique stroke ID toa new stroke object 210, there is no need for communications sequencingthat is otherwise required to centrally assign unique stroke IDs tostroke objects generated by different devices. Thus, it becomes possiblefor the transmission device 10-1 to start transmitting ink data 200 at apen-down time, i.e., immediately after a user starts to draw a stroke.

F104 field includes a drawing style object 230, or a set of drawingparameters included in the drawing style object 230 which are allrelated to how to draw (or render) a stroke object 210. The parametersmay include, for example, a shape parameter (a circle in FIG. 3B or aflake/particle in FIG. 3C), a shape radius or size, the minimum andmaximum values of a shape radius or size, pen pressure or pen tiltinformation (which impacts how a stroke drawn with that pen pressure orpen tilt will appear on a display), etc.

In some embodiments, the entire set of drawing parameters is included inF104 field. In other embodiments, one or more sets of drawing parameters(or one or more “drawing style objects”) may be shared between thetransmission device 10-1 and the relay server 10-2 (and the receptiondevice 10-3) in advance, and only a parameter-set ID (or a drawing styleobject ID) may be included in F104 field to specify which set of drawingparameters is to be used to render the stroke object 210. For example,frequently used parameter settings, such as a limited number ofcombinations of commonly-used pen tip types (pencil, brush, pen) andcommonly-used colors may be pre-defined, with each setting given aunique ID, and these setting IDs may be included in F104 field tocommunicate how the stroke object 210 is to be rendered (drawn) on adisplay. The parameter settings may be explicitly negotiated betweendevices at the time of initial negotiation, or may be implicitly definedas part of a system protocol.

F105 field includes the first fragmented data out of a plurality offragmented data that together form one stroke object 210. F105 field ofthe first data message includes the beginning coordinate position of thestroke object 210, for example. While FIG. 34 shows the first fragmenteddata (in F105) as included in the first data message (DATA_INK_BGNOS),the first fragmented data (F105) may be included in the second datamessage if there is no sufficient room in the first data message (whichmust include the drawing style object).

“DATA_INK_MVDOS” 1, 2 . . . data messages of FIG. 34 are all related tothe same stroke object 210 and respectively include the secondfragmented data (F106), the third fragmented data (F107), and so forth.Unlike the first data message, these subsequent data messages do notinclude the drawing style object (F104) and are identified as a“subsequent” (not first) type of data message (MVDOS) in F101. Thesubsequent data messages all include the same drawing area ID (F102) andthe same stroke ID (F103) as the first data message.

“DATA_INK_ENDOS” data message is the last data message for the strokeobject 210 and may include the last fragmented data of the stroke object210 (F108). Also, the last data message includes a metadata object 250in F109, which includes non-drawing related information such as authorinformation.

FIG. 35A illustrates a transmission format, specifically, acommunications packet including a data message “DATA_INK_MVDOS,” whichmay be used in a communications protocol that includes a built-in dataretransmission mechanism, such as TCP. On the other hand, FIG. 35Billustrates a communications packet that may be used in a communicationsprotocol that does not include a built-in data retransmission mechanism,such as UDP. Unlike the data message format of FIG. 35A, the datamessage format of FIG. 35B for use in a protocol without aretransmission mechanism may include an additional field F110 whichincludes a sequence ID uniquely assigned to each data message. Thesequence ID may be used to detect a message loss to trigger/requestretransmission.

Specifically, FIG. 36A is a sequence diagram of a sample dataretransmission process which uses sequence ID, and which is suitable forimplementation in a communications protocol, such as UDP, which does notinclude a data retransmission mechanism. For example, FIG. 36A applieswhen the transmission side's packet retransmission parameter (524_1 a)is set to “FALSE” and the message retransmission parameter (524_1 f) isset to “ENABLE.” The hatched duration “d” corresponds to duration d inFIG. 32.

FIG. 36A shows that the first, second, and fourth data messagesrespectively associated with sequence ID #456, #457, and #459,transmitted from the transmission device 10-1, are successfully receivedat the relay server 10-2. FIG. 36A also shows that the third datamessage associated with sequence ID #458 has been lost somewhere in thenetwork between the transmission device 10-1 and the relay server 10-2and not received by the relay server 10-2.

The relay server 10-2, at time T1 when the third data message associatedwith sequence ID #458 is expected but not received and instead thefourth data message associated sequence ID #459 is received, detectsthat the third data message associated with sequence ID #458 is lost.The relay server 10-2 then issues a Negative Acknowledgement (NACK;DATA_INK_NACK) message including sequence ID #458 to indicate that thethird message associated with sequence ID #458 was not received.

The transmission device 10-1, at time T2 when the NACK message isreceived, detects that the third data message associated with sequenceID #458 was lost and starts the retransmission processing to retransmitthe third data message associated with sequence ID #458 and subsequentdata messages that follow sequence ID #458 (i.e., #459, #460 . . . ).One reason for retransmitting all subsequent data messages, not just thelost data message, is to continue transmission of fragmented data of astroke object 210 in a time sequential manner to avoid any perceivabletime delay. Another reason is that when a data message is lost it islikely that data messages subsequent to that lost data message are alsolost.

According to the retransmission processing method described above, evenwhen a protocol that does not include a retransmission mechanism isused, it becomes possible to ensure that all data messages (or datapackets) necessary to form one stroke object 210 are successfullyreceived. While the retransmission processing method is described aboveas occurring between the transmission device 10-1 and the relay server10-2, the method may be similarly implemented between the relay server10-2 and the reception device 10-3.

FIG. 36B shows another example of message retransmission. Similar toFIG. 36A, the hatched duration “d” corresponds to duration d in FIG. 32.FIG. 36B applies when the transmission side's packet retransmissionparameter (524_1 a) is set to “FALSE” and the message retransmissionparameter (524_1 f) is set to “DISABLED.” The message retransmissionparameter may be set to “DISABLED” when there is little tolerance formessage transmission delay (i.e., when there is a strict requirement notto have any perceivable transmission delay), regardless of whethermessage retransmission is possible or not.

As in FIG. 36A, in FIG. 36B also, the first, second, and fourth datamessages respectively associated with sequence ID #456, #457, and #459,transmitted from the transmission device 10-1 (or the relay device 10-2on the transmission side) are successfully received at the relay server10-2 (or the reception device 10-3). The relay server 10-2 at thereception side, at time T1 when the third data message associated withsequence ID #458 is expected but not received and instead the fourthdata message associated with sequence ID #459 is received, detects thatthe third data message associated with sequence ID #458 is lost.Thereafter, at time T2B, without issuing a retransmission request, thereception side performs interpolation processing (or error concealmentprocessing) (S1205) to supplement or interpolate a missing portion ofthe data corresponding to the lost data message associated with sequenceID #458 based on the successfully received messages associated withsequence ID #456, #457, and #459, to thereby achieve continuous,uninterrupted display processing. At time T3B, processing of the lastdata message associated with sequence ID #461 is completed. Thereafter,at time T4B, the reception side issues a DATA_INK_ALLOS_REQ message 1503(see FIG. 39B) using the received stroke ID. The transmission side 10-1(or 10-2) then transmits a DATA_INK_ALLOS message 1501 (see FIG. 39A),which is a message that includes the identified stroke as a whole. Thereception side 10-2 (or 10-3), at time T5B, uses the receivedDATA_INK_ALLOS message 1501 to perform data correction of thesupplemented or interpolated missing portion of the data, as necessary.

FIG. 36C illustrates a problem to be addressed in the interpolationprocessing (error concealment processing) at step S1205 of FIG. 36B. Itis assumed that the messages #457, #458 and #459 form one completestroke data. In FIG. 36C, the message #456 includes control positionsP4571, P4562 and P4563. The black-square position P4561 is a strokebeginning position and includes the position's absolute coordinate,which is (100, 0) in the illustrated example. In the figures, blacksquare positions are associated with absolute coordinates (to bereferenced). On the other hand, the black-circle position P4562 isassociated with a difference (offset) relative to an absolute coordinateor a coordinate of an immediately preceding position to be referenced.In the illustrated example, the position P4562 is at Rel (+20, 0),meaning that it is located +20 horizontally and +0 vertically relativeto the absolute coordinate (100, 0) of P4561. The black-circle positionP4563 is at Rel (+20, 0) relative to the immediately precedingblack-circle position P4562. The message #457 includes three positionsP4571, P4572 and P4573, each at Rel (+20, 0) relative to its immediatelypreceding position. As in FIG. 36B, assume that the message #458 is notreceived at the reception side. Then, the cross-hatched beginningposition P4591 of the last message #459 cannot be determined because theposition P4591 only includes relative offset information, which is notuseful unless there is a reference position.

The cross-hatched beginning position P4591 may be determined by variousmethods according to embodiments of the present invention. A firstmethod according to an embodiment of the invention involves linearprediction performed at the reception side, to be described still inreference to FIG. 36C. For example, when messages are transmitted per 50msec, the presumed trajectory of portions in a missing message can bepredicted based on the speed and acceleration of the positioncoordinates that are already obtained. In FIG. 36C, the stroke hasadvanced a total of Rel (+60, 0) from P4563 (the last control positionof the message #456) to P4573 (the last control position of the message#457), and thus, it can be predicted that the last control position ofthe missing (lost) message #458 has also advanced Rel (+60, 0) relativeto P4573.

FIG. 36D illustrates a second method to obtain the cross-hatchedbeginning position P4591 according to an embodiment of the invention. Inthis method, the transmission side may switch to include an absolutecoordinate in the beginning control position of each one of thefragmented messages, as indicated by the black-square positions P4561,P4571 and P4591. In one embodiment, the transmission device 10-1 mayselect to implement this method if a) output in a format different fromthe recording forma is requested, and b) one or more of the followingconditions is met: (i) stroke fragmentation is used (“StrokeDatafragment Enable” is “TRUE” in 524_1); (ii) message retransmission is notimplemented in the message layer (“Packet Retransmission” is “TRUE” in524_1 a and “Message Retransmission” is “DISABLED” in 524_1 f); and(iii) there is an explicit indication to include an absolute coordinatein each fragmented message. Though FIG. 36D shows that an absolutecoordinate is included in every fragmented message, the frequency withwhich to include absolute coordinates may be varied. For example,communications protocol reporting such as IETF RFC3550 and RTP reportingmay be used to vary the inclusion frequency of absolute coordinates atthe transmission side based on the reception quality detected at thereception side.

A third method to obtain the cross-hatched position P4591 is backwardconfirmation that may be used together with the linear (forward)prediction of FIG. 36C. In FIG. 36E, unlike the case of FIG. 36C, thelast control position P4593 of the last message #459 is square shapedand contains its absolute coordinate, (333, 0) in the illustratedexample. When loss of a message (#458) is detected, the reception sideperforms backward confirmation of the cross-hatched circle positionP4591 based on the last control position P4593 of the last message #459including an absolute coordinate. In the illustrated example, thecross-hatched position P4591 is calculated backward from the lastcontrol position P4593 (333,0), via P4592 by Rel (−20, 0) and to P4591by another Rel (−20, 0), to be (293, 0).

FIG. 36F illustrates the supplementing or interpolation processing(error concealment processing) performed at step S1205 of FIG. 36B thatuses the cross-hatched control position P4591 obtained according to anyof the methods described above. A solid line 1201 indicates a partialstroke data generated based on the message #457, and a white circleP4573 indicates the last (ending) control position of the fragmentedstroke object 210 included in the message #457. A solid line 1203indicates another partial stroke data generated based on the message#459, and the cross-hatched P4591 indicates the first (beginning)control position of the fragmented stroke object 210 included in themessage #459. The missing data (corresponding to the lost message #458)between the partial stroke 1201 and the partial stroke 1203 may bederived based on bi-directional prediction using interpolation (or errorconcealment) both in a forward direction from the partial stroke 1201 asshown in a broken arrow 1207, and in a backward direction from thepartial stroke 1203 as shown in another broken arrow 1209.

FIG. 36G illustrates one example of bi-directional predictionprocessing. In this example, a line (or a fitted curve) 1221 connectingP4573 and P4591 is formed, and a mid-point P_pred_midst is found thatdivides the line 1221 into two equal line (or curve) segments 1223 and1225 that may be respectively expressed as approximate curve functions.

As described above, when a communications protocol does not include aretransmission mechanism in the communication layer (e.g., UDP), thesystem may adaptively select between implementing message transmissionin the message layer as in FIG. 36A, or not implementing messageretransmission even in the message layer as in FIG. 36B. Thus, when anapplication has strict timing requirements such as when ink data 200 areto be synchronously reproduced with audio data, for example,retransmission is disabled both in the communication layer and themessage layer so as to avoid any perceivable transmission time delay andto achieve continuous, real time reception and display of ink data 200.

FIG. 37 is a sequence diagram illustrating ink data communications, inwhich a request to update a common drawing area issued by a transmissiondevice is rejected by a relay server. For example, the transmissiondevice 10-1 requests to add a new stroke object 210 to the commondrawing area, and the request is rejected by the relay server 10-2. Theportion up to a point when the transmission device 10-1 sends the firstdata message (DATA_INK_BGNOS) including the drawing style object 230 isthe same as that included in the sequence diagram of FIG. 32.

When the relay server 10-2 receives the first data message, the ink datarelay section 540 determines, in step S613 (DENY), to reject acceptanceof the first data message based on defined criteria, such as any limiton processing resources, any limit on network resources, user accesspolicy, etc.

The relay server 10-2 then sends a rejection message (DATA_INK_REJOS)from the feedback transmission section 546 to the transmission device10-1.

When the transmission device 10-1 receives the rejection message inresponse to the first data message for a stroke object 210, in stepS610, the transmission device 10-1 aborts the transmission processingand discontinues transmission of subsequent data messages for the strokeobject 210. In other words, unless a rejection message is returned, thetransmission device 10-1 continues the transmission processing totransmit all fragmented data for one stroke object 210 in successivedata messages, without waiting for return of an explicit ACCEPT message.

According to the ink data transmission methods of various embodiments ofthe present invention, even when a long stroke (trace) (which may take afew seconds to complete, for example) is drawn by one device, adifferent device can start to display the stroke as it is being drawn ina common drawing area without having to wait for the completion of thestroke. Various retransmission methods, which may be built-in in a givenprotocol system or which may be additionally used in a protocol systemwithout a retransmission mechanism, may be used to ensure that acomplete stroke object 210 is successfully received at the receptionside even when the stroke object 210 is divided and sent in multiplepieces of fragmented data. Also, when any of the data messages for astroke object 210 sent by the transmission device 10-1 isrefused/rejected by the relay server 10-2, the transmission device 10-1aborts the transmission process to thereby avoid wasting preciousprocessing resources and network (transmission) resources.

FIG. 38 is a first modification example of the sequence diagram of FIG.32, in which the relay server 10-2 receives fragmented data of a strokeobject 210 from the transmission device 10-1 and combines all of thefragmented data for the stroke object 210 to be relayed to the receptiondevice 10-3. The transmission of fragmented data per defined unit T fromthe transmission device 10-1 to the relay server 10-2 is the same asshown in FIG. 32.

In this embodiment, the reception device 10-3 may negotiate with therelay server 10-2 in advance to set reception parameters that define howthe reception device 10-3 receives ink data 200 relayed from the relayserver 10-2. For example, the reception device 10-3 sends a controlmessage (CTRL_JOIN_REQ 524_1) to the relay server 10-2, which includescommunications setting information such as information indicating thatthe reception device 10-3 is to receive ink data 200 per stroke unit, asopposed to per defined unit T (524_1 c “StrokeData fragment Enable”value “FALSE.”) The relay server 10-2 stores the communications settinginformation received from the reception device 10-3 in the drawing areainformation management section 524, such that the relay server 10-2 willrelay ink data 200 to the reception device 10-3 per stroke unit (whileit may relay ink data 200 to other reception devices per defined unitT).

Then, as in FIG. 32, the transmission device 10-1 starts to transmitfragmented data of a stroke object 210. The relay server 10-2, in stepS614 (buffering), continues to store the fragmented data for the strokeobject 210 until the last data message (DATA_INK_ENDOS) is received.When the last data message is received, the relay server 10-2 preparesand sends a data message containing the entire stroke object 210 as wellas its associated drawing style object 230, metadata object 250, etc.,and sends it as “DATA_INK_ALLOS” to the reception device 10-3, forrendering at S617.

In this example, because the relay server 10-2 sends ink data 200concerning an entire stroke object 210 at once, the number of pointobjects included in the stroke object 210 is known. Thus, the ink data200 may be transmitted in a recording format, instead of in atransmission format, where the recording format has less redundancy andthus may be more compressed than the transmission format.

FIG. 39A is a sample data message format of “DATA_INK_ALLOS,” in arecording format, which includes all of the ink data 200 for one strokeobject 210 as well as an associated drawing style object 230, metadataobject 250, the number of point objects included in the stroke object210, etc. As shown, the message includes a message CRC, and if themessage size exceeds a given communications packet MTU, the message isdivided into two or more communications packets (Pckt_1, Pckt_2, Pckt_3,etc.) in the communications layer, which is below the ink data messagelayer.

When transmitting ink data 200 per stroke unit, it may be possible touse a communications protocol different from that used for streamingfragmented data, in real time, per defined unit T. For example, TCP orHTTP (which basically relies on TCP), which includes a retransmissionmechanism, may be used to transmit ink data 200 per stroke unit, while aprotocol without a retransmission mechanism, such as UDP, may be used tostream fragmented data per defined unit T.

The reception device 10-3 receives the ink data 200 per stroke unit and,in step S617, applies graphic processing to draw (render) the strokeobject 210 in one rendition.

The modified sequence example of FIG. 38 may be suited for use by areception device 10-3 that may be in a network environment in whichtraffic speed is slow and thus real-time streaming wherein each strokecan be continuously received may be difficult to achieve. In such cases,the reception device 10-3 may opt to employ a more robust receptionmethod to receive stroke objects, one stroke object at a time, withoutdata loss.

FIG. 39B illustrates a sample data message format of“DATA_INK_ALLOS_REQ” 1503, which is a message that requests the strokeobject 210 data of an entire stoke when the stroke ID is known. Themessage may be used to request retransmission of the entire strokeobject data using the stroke ID.

FIG. 40 is a second modification example of the sequence diagram of FIG.32, in which a stroke object 210 is transmitted “as is” (i.e.,non-fragmented) from the transmission device 10-1 via the relay server10-2 to the reception device 10-3.

In this embodiment, the transmission device 10-1 may negotiate with therelay server 10-2 in advance to set transmission parameters that definehow the transmission device 10-1 transmits ink data 200 to the relayserver 10-2. For example, the transmission device 10-1 sends a controlmessage (CONTROL_JOIN_REQ), which includes communications settinginformation such as information indicating that the transmission device10-1 is to transmit ink data 200 per stroke unit, as opposed to perdefined unit T (524_1 c “StrokeData fragment Enable” value “FALSE”). Therelay server 10-2 stores the communications setting information receivedfrom the transmission device 10-1 in the drawing area informationmanagement section 526, so that the relay server 10-2 is controlled toreceive ink data 200 from the transmission device 10-1 per stroke unit(while it may receive ink data 200 from other transmission devices perdefined unit T).

As in FIG. 32, in FIG. 40, the transmission device 10-1 executes inkdata transmission processing by using detection of a “pen event datainput start” (e.g., “PenDown” event) as a trigger. Specifically, in stepS605, the input processing section 111 of the transmission device 10-1detects input of a stroke beginning point. In FIG. 40, the pen eventdata are continuously inputted to the ink data processing section 100Tfrom step S605 to step S609 at the input processing section 111 (andcorrespondingly from S607 to S611, collectively 5608B, at the ink datageneration section 120T), during which one stroke is drawn starting at astroke beginning point and ending at a stroke ending point.

The ink data processing section 100T of the transmission device 10-1generates a drawing style object 230 based on context information (INPUT2) using the “pen event data input start” (e.g., “PenDown” event) (S605)as a trigger.

The ink data formatting section 140T of the transmission device 10-1 maythen format the first data message (DATA_INK_BGNOS) to be transmitted tothe relay server 10-2, which the relay server 10-2 may determine toaccept (S613(ACCEPT)) or reject. The first data message in this case issent to confirm whether the relay server 10-2 is capable of acceptingthe ink data 200 from the transmission device 10-2 and, as such, neednot include the coordinate of the beginning point of a stroke object210, for example.

As long as a rejection message (NACK) is not received from the relayserver 10-2, the transmission device 10-1 formats the ink data 200 foran entire stroke object 210 in a message “DATA_INK_ALLOS,” whichincludes the entire stroke object 210 as well as its associated drawingstyle object 230, metadata object 250, etc., and sends it to the relayserver 10-2.

When transmitting ink data 200 per stroke unit, it may be possible touse a data format different from that used to transmit ink data 200 perdefined unit T. For example, the ink data 200 per stroke unit may betransmitted in a recording format, while the ink data 200 that arefragmented per defined unit T (smaller than stroke unit) may betransmitted in a transmission format. Also, when transmitting ink data200 per stroke unit, a communications protocol that provides aretransmission mechanism may be used to achieve more robust (reliable)transmission of ink data 200.

The relay server 10-2 receives a data message (DATA_INK_ALLOS) includingthe entire stroke object 210 as well as its associated drawing styleobject 230, metadata object 250, etc., and relays the same “as is”(DATA_INK_ALLOS) to the reception device 10-3. To this end, thereception device 10-3 may negotiate with the relay server 10-2 inadvance to set reception parameters that define that the receptiondevice 10-3 is to receive ink data 200 relayed from the relay server10-2 per stroke unit, as opposed to per defined unit T.

The reception device 10-3 receives the ink data 200 per stroke unit and,in step S617, applies graphic processing to draw (render) the strokeobject 210 in one rendition.

The modified sequence example of FIG. 40 may be suited for use by atransmission device 10-1 and a reception device 10-3, both of which maybe in a network environment in which traffic speed is slow and thusreal-time streaming wherein each stroke can be continuously transmittedand received may be difficult to achieve. In such cases, thetransmission device 10-1 and the reception device 10-3 may opt to employa more robust transmission/reception method to transmit/receive strokeobjects, one stroke object 210 at a time, without data loss.

FIG. 41 is a third modification example of the sequence diagram of FIG.32, in which the relay server 10-2 receives a stroke object 210 from thetransmission device 10-1 and divides the received stroke object 210 intomultiple pieces of fragmented data to be relayed or sent to thereception device 10-3.

As in the previous sequence of FIG. 40, the transmission device 10-1generates and transmits a data message that contains the ink data 200for an entire stroke object 210, as well as any associated drawing styleobject 230, metadata object 250, etc., (DATA_INK_ALLOS) to the relayserver 10-2. (See steps S607 through S611, collectively 5608C, at theink data generation section 120T.)

During duration “d,” the ink data generation section 120T of thetransmission device 10-1 embeds in the ink data 200 respective timescorresponding to the point objects derived from pen event data to formthe stroke object 210. For example, when the application 300-1 is usedin connection with audio (e.g., 524_1 g “Audio Sync ENABLE” parameter“ENABLE”), the transmission device 10-1 inserts time-stampinginformation to the ink data 200, per fragment, for the purpose ofsynchronization with the reproduction timings of audio or other data.The times are embedded as “reproduction times,” which the relay server10-2 may use in relaying the ink data 200 and the reception device 10-3may use in reproducing (rendering) the ink data 200. For example, afirst portion (first point object) of the ink data 200 generated by timeT1 is to be relayed by the relay server 10-2 at a corresponding timeD_T1, a second portion (second point object) of the ink data 200generated by time T2 (between T1 and T2) is to be relayed by the relayserver 10-2 at a corresponding time D_T2, and so forth. Similarly, thefirst through fourth portions (point objects) of the ink data 200generated by times T1 through T4, respectively, are reproduced (drawn)by the reception device 10-3 at corresponding timings based on times T1through T4, respectively, starting at a “Graphic Processing Start” stepof S617.

The relay server 10-2 receives the data message DATA_INK_ALLOS from thetransmission device, which includes the ink data 200 for an entirestroke object 210 as well as any associated drawing style object 230,metadata object 250, etc., and divides the ink data 200 into multiplepieces of fragmented data per defined unit T, similarly to how thetransmission device 10-1 generates the fragmented data in the sequenceexample of FIG. 32. The defined unit T is smaller than the stroke unitin this example. The relay server 10-2 outputs the generated fragmenteddata at the timings of D_T1, D_T2, D_T3, and D_T4, respectively, to thereception device 3.

The reception device 10-3 receives and processes multiple data messagesincluding fragmented data, which together form one stroke object 210,similarly to the reception device 10-3 in the sequence example of FIG.32. Specifically, the reception device 10-3 receives the first datamessage DATA_INK_BGNOS, which signals that it is the first data messageof a series of data messages forming one stroke object 210. Thereception device 10-3 extracts the drawing style object 230 contained inthe first data message and uses the information in the drawing styleobject 230 to start rendering (drawing) the fragmented data of thestroke object 210. The ink data processing section 100R continues toprocess subsequent fragmented data received in subsequent data messages,and the drawing section 300 continues rendering (drawing) the rest ofthe stroke object 210 in a growing (increasing) manner. FIG. 41 showsthat the stroke object 210 is continuously drawn as its fragmented dataare increasingly received and processed, from state G1, G2, G3 where thestroke object 210 is only partially, but growingly, drawn until state G4where the stroke object 210 is fully drawn. While in the above examplethe relay server 10-2 controls the relay transmission timings of thestroke data, it is possible to have the relay server 10-2 transmit thestroke data per unit of stroke and then have the reception device 10-3control the reproduction timings of respective fragments of the receivedstroke data. It is further possible to have the relay server 10-2 retainthe stroke data and start streaming the stroke data to one or morereception devices at a scheduled time. For example, the scheduled timecan be set to 0:00 on Jan. 1, 2020, and the reception devices may startto receive a set of strokes depicting a message “Happy New Year” to bedrawn on their respective displays starting at the scheduled time.

The various embodiments and modifications described above can becombined to provide further embodiments. Aspects of the embodiments canbe modified to provide yet further embodiments.

For example, in some embodiments, the reception device 10-3 may beconfigured to determine whether to accept or reject a data messagerelayed from the relay server 10-2, similarly to how the relay server10-2 is configured to determine whether to accept or reject a datamessage transmitted from the transmission device 10-1. When the relayserver 10-1 receives a rejection message (DATA_INK_REJOS), it updatesthe connection list 541 (FIG. 29) to indicate that data messages fromthe transmission device 10-1 are not to be relayed to the receptiondevice 10-3 (while the same data messages may be relayed to otherreception devices).

In some embodiments, an origin of a common drawing area coincides withan origin of a user-specific drawing area (i.e., an origin of thedisplay 113 of a transmission/reception device). In other embodiments,an origin or the dimensions of a user-specific drawing area need not bethe same as an origin or the dimensions of a common drawing area. FIG.42 is a diagram illustrating the concept of a user-specific strokestarting point, within a user-specific drawing area, relative to anorigin of a common drawing area.

In FIG. 42, point 1601 (0,0) indicates an origin of a common drawingarea, while point 1603 User_10-1 (0,0) indicates an origin of auser-specific drawing area for User_10-1 and point 1605 User_10-3 (0,0)indicates an origin of another user-specific drawing area for anotherUser_10-3. The vector from (0,0) to User_10-1 (0,0) is illustrated to be(200, 30), and the vector from (0,0) to User_10-3 (0,0) is illustratedto be (130, 260). At the initiation of communication, the transmissiondevice 10-1 and the reception device 10-3 share their respective originvectors from the origin of the common drawing area ((200, 30) and (130,260) in the illustrated example) with the relay server 10-2. Thus, whenthe transmission device 10-1 sends Stroke_A starting at Offset_1_1(1607) to the relay server 10-2, the transmission device 10-1 needs tosend only vector Offset_1_1, which is the vector from User_10-1 (0,0) tothe starting point Offset_1_1. The relay server 10-2 can then combinethe received vector Offset_1_1 with vector (200, 30) to determine theposition of the starting point Offset_1_1 relative to the origin of thecommon drawing area.

The relay server 10-2 may then send the combined vector from point 1601(0,0), via point 1603 User_10-1 (0,0), to Offset_1_1 (1607), whichcombined vector defining the position of the starting point Offset_1_1relative to the origin of the common drawing area, to the receptiondevice 10-3. The reception device 10-3 may then determine the positionof the starting point Offset_1_1 relative to its own user-specificdrawing area having the origin of User_10-3 (0,0) (1605) by subtractingits origin vector (130,260) from the received combined vector.Alternatively, the relay server 10-2 may perform the subtractingoperation to calculate the position of the starting point Offset_1_1relative to the origin of User_10-3 (0,0) (1605) of the user-specificdrawing area of the reception device 10-3. When the relay server 10-2sends the calculated position of the starting point Offset_1-1 relativeto the origin of User_10-3 (0,0) to the reception device 10-3, thereception device 10-3 can immediately process the received positionwithin its own user-specific drawing area.

Similar process can be used when the reception device 10-3 enters andsends Stroke_B starting at Offset_3-1 and Stroke_C starting atOffset_3-2, drawn in the user-specific drawing area having the origin ofUser_10-3 (0,0), to the relay server 10-2, to be forwarded onto thetransmission device 10-1.

In these embodiments, since the relay server 10-2 performs coordinateconversion relative to the origin of the common drawing area, thetransmission and reception devices 10-1 and 10-3 need not perform theconversion themselves and transmit and receive coordinates data (vectordata) as coordinates data relative to its own origin. That is, once thetransmission and reception devices 10-1 and 10-3 share their originsrelative to the origin of the common drawing area with the relay server10-2, the coordinates conversion processing can be fully transparent tothe transmission and reception devices 10-1 and 10-3.

While the defined transmission unit T to send ink data 200 has beendescribed as equal to or smaller than a stroke unit, it is furtherpossible to transmit ink data 200 in a unit larger than the stroke unit.That is, it is possible to “aggregate” the ink data 200 per a unit ofsemantics, which is larger than the stroke unit. For example, in theprocess of defining unit T as shown in FIG. 33, in step S709, it isdetermined whether aggregation is requested. If “YES,” then in stepS713, the unit T is set to a value greater than a stroke unit, which isa unit of semantics.

FIG. 43 illustrates the concept of a unit of semantics, while FIG. 44illustrates a sample flow of transmitting ink data 200 in a unit ofsemantics.

FIG. 43 illustrates a word “Network” consisting of seven (7) handwrittenletters. 7011 refers to the first stroke, 7012 refers to the secondstroke (together forming the first letter “N”), 7013 refers to the thirdstroke, and 7014 and 7015 respectively refer to the fourth and fifthstrokes that together form the third letter “t.” Here, the first andsecond strokes 7011 and 7012 are deemed to form one semantics unitbecause they together form one letter, and similarly the fourth andfifth strokes 7014 and 7015 are deemed to form one semantics unitbecause they together form one letter.

FIG. 44 illustrates a sample flow of “aggregating” multiple strokes thatform one semantics unit and transmitting the stroke data per the unit ofsemantics. In this example, the application 300-1 is linked to acharacter recognition engine. In FIG. 44, the hatched duration“d_for_7011” is a period during which the first stroke 7011 is detected.The ink data generation section 120T detects, based on the analysisresult of the character recognition engine used by the application300-1, that the first stroke 7011 does not form a complete unit ofsemantics. Since the unit of semantics is not yet completed, in stepS1911, the process skips an ink data transmission step. Then, during thehatched duration “d_for_7012” the second stroke 7012 is detected. Instep S1913, the ink data generation section 120T detects that the firstand second strokes 7011 and 7012 form one unit of semantics. In stepS1915, the ink data generation section 120T aggregates the first andsecond strokes 7011 and 7012, and also generates metadata informationindicating that the first and second strokes 7011 and 7012 together formone unit of semantics and together mean “N.” The transmission device10-1 transmits the stroke (ink) data (1501 DATA_INK_ALLOS) together withthe metadata information to the reception side (the relay server 10-2 orthe reception device 10-3). In step S1917, the reception side extractsthe metadata information to determine that the first and second strokes7011 and 7012 together form one unit of semantics and together mean “N.”Thereafter, in step S1919, the reception side renders (draws) the firstand second strokes 7011 and 7012 on its display.

Third Embodiment

A third embodiment is directed to methods for generating and reproducingink data configured to represent hand-drawn data, and to methods ofoutputting (rendering) drawings using the reproduced ink data.Specifically, processing of FIG. 92 is described that abstracts(generalizes) pen event data 9202 dependent on a specific input devicesensor to generate ink data 200. For example, processing is describedthat abstracts (generalizes) pen event data having pen pressure data(Type 1) and pen event data not having pen pressure data (Type 2) so asto generate device-independent common attributes values.

Background of the Third Embodiment

Document (D5) above describes an ink data standard, and states thepurpose of the standard as follows: “Jot [standard] enables ink to beused across a very broad range of applications and devices. With astandard interchange format, a number of scenarios are possible. Hereare a few examples of ink sharing. Of course, many more applicationswill arise as Jot is implemented on diverse platforms.”

The standard utilizes a flag called “inkForceDataPresent” that indicatesthat pen pressure data, which is one attribute of ink data, is present.

Each of the points (dots) that form a stroke is defined in the datastructure of Table 1 below:

TABLE 1 Data structure of Document (D5) typedef struct tag_INK_POINT {  XY32 position; // required x/y point data   S16 force; // optionalforce data   S16 height; // optional z height data   S16 rho; //optional rotational data   ANGLE16 angle; // optional theta and phi data  INK_BUTTONS buttons; // optional proximity, contact, button data }INK_POINT, FAR *P_INK_POINT;

In the above, “force” is a value that corresponds to pen pressure.Therefore, to an electronic device capable of obtaining “pen pressure”information (e.g., most EMR-type tablets), the inkForceDataPresent flagvalue is set to a Boolean value indicative of the presence of penpressure data, and the value of pen pressure (“force”) is entered asinput information.

Document (D1) describes another ink data standard, and states thepurpose of the standard as follows: “Hardware and software vendors havetypically stored and represented digital ink using proprietary orrestrictive formats. The lack of a public and comprehensive digital inkformat has severely limited the capture, transmission, processing, andpresentation of digital ink across heterogeneous devices developed bymultiple vendors. In response to this need, the Ink Markup Language(InkML) provides a simple and platform-neutral data format to promotethe interchange of digital ink between software applications.”

In this standard, a stroke is called a “trace,” and its data structurecan be defined by attributes that are freely selected from among apredefined set of attributes.

In a default setting, a trace is represented as a list of decimal numbercombinations (X, Y), according to the data structure of Table 2-1 below:

TABLE 2-1 Data structure (Default) of Document (D1) <traceFormatxml:id=“DefaultTraceFormar”>   <channel name=“X” type=“decimal”/>  <channel name=“Y” type=“decimal”/> </traceFormat>

To the default data structure, further attributes may be added bydefining additional channel names, such as F (force). For example, anattribute (channel name) indicative of pen pressure is defined asfollows:

channel name Dimension default unit interpretation F Force % pen tipforce

By setting the name of a <channel name> tag of <traceFormat> as “F(Force),” for example, one can custom-define a “traceFormat” including aforce attribute.

A trace is then represented as a list of decimal number combinations (X,Y) and according to any custom-defined “traceFormat.” Thus, ink data(e.g., coordinates, pen pressure, etc.) represented in a custom-definedtraceFormat is provided as a list of continuous values.

Document (D2) describes yet another attempt to standardize ink data inthe industry, and describes its purpose as follows: “Ink SerializedFormat or ISF is a Microsoft format to store written ink data. Theformat is mainly used for mobile devices like Personal digitalassistants, tablet PCs and Ultra-Mobile PCs to store data entered with astylus.” D3 further describes that “[a]n ink object is simply a sequenceof strokes, where each stroke is a sequence of points, and the pointsare X, and Y coordinates. Many of the new mobile devices can alsoprovide information such as pressure, and angle. In addition [they] canbe used to store custom information along with the ink data.”

When pen pressure information is to be included, the following attributecan be included in the data format:

TAG_NORMAL_PRESSURE Indicates pressure is the first thing after x, y

Information including the TAG_NORMAL_PRESSURE information can then beserialized and outputted.

Summary of the Third Embodiment

The ink data structures proposed in Documents (D1), (D2) and (D5) aboveare intended to output device-specific information obtained by apen-type input device without abstracting or generalizing theinformation. For example, when pen pressure data is obtained as anattribute by a pen-type input device, the pen pressure data can beoutputted to an electronic device having capability to receive andprocess pressure data but cannot be outputted to an electronic devicewhich is not expected to have such capability, such as mostelectrostatic capacitive type tablets. Similarly, when a pen-type inputdevice is incapable of obtaining pen pressure data, no pen pressure datacan be outputted to an electronic device even when the electronic devicedoes have capability to receive and process pen pressure data. Stillfurther, some “finger” type input devices capable of receivinghand-drawn input by a finger, such as electrostatic capacitive typesensors, are incapable of generating finger pressure data when a fingeris pressed against the sensor surfaces. Thus, since not all pen-typeinput devices or finger type input devices are capable of obtaining penpressure data and since not all electronic devices (e.g., tablets andPCs) are capable of obtaining, receiving and processing pen pressuredata, utilization of pen pressure data in the currently available inkdata is rather limited. This renders the currently available ink dataunsuited for the purpose of more realistically simulating orrepresenting hand-drawn data, because in reality pen pressure applied bya user significantly impacts how a pen stroke (or pen trace) appears onpaper by affecting the width or darkness of a pen stroke or creating ablotch or smudge of varying size.

Techniques proposed in Documents (D1), (D2) and (D5) are aimed atrecording and reproducing movement of a pen (i.e., “pen event”)including information such as how much pen pressure is applied or howmuch the pen is tilted during the pen event. However, information thatultimately needs to be recorded and reproduced is the resulting“appearance” of a series of pen events, such as how multiple strokes ortraces appear on a screen. The resulting appearance of a series of penevents is typically used as graphics data. Document (D3) proposes avector data standard, but Document (D3) is indifferent to the use of apen as an input device and, as a result, its data are not suited forrepresenting or expressing strokes resulting from use of a pen. Forexample, the technique of Document (D3) does not permit variable strokewidth or variable opacity of a stroke in version 1.1.

A need exists for methods of generating and reproducing ink data basedon an ink data model (semantics or language) and an ink data formatbased on the ink data model, which do not require pen pressure data soas to be usable by devices that do not support pen pressure data. Insome embodiments, the method of generating ink data is capable ofgenerating substitute parameter(s) for the pressure data based oninformation readily available in most, if not all, of a variety ofdevices. Use of the substitute parameters in the ink data model of thepresent invention to represent pressure information achieves providingrendered (drawn) pen strokes with various nuanced expressions andrealistic appearances that simulate actual pen strokes.

Description of the Third Embodiment

The description of various exemplary embodiments of the presentinvention below is generally organized in the following six sections:

-   -   [1] Overall System Architecture, in reference to FIGS. 1 and        45-47B    -   [2] Stroke Language (SL) and Stroke File Format (SFF)        -   [2-1] Ink data Model (“Stroke Language”), in reference to            FIGS. 48A-48I        -   [2-2] Stroke File Format (SFF), in reference to FIGS.            48J-48L    -   [3] Ink data processing section 100 (Generator 100T), in        reference to FIGS. 49-63    -   [4] Ink data processing section 100R (Reproducer 100R), in        reference to FIGS. 64-66    -   [5] Ink data rendering process, in reference to FIG. 67    -   [6] Effects: Ink Data Drawing Examples, in reference to FIGS.        68-72

[1] Overall System Architecture (FIGS. 1 and 45-47B)

FIG. 1 described above in reference to the first embodiment illustratesan overall system in which the ink data 200 of the present invention maybe generated, reproduced, and rendered (drawn) on a screen according tothe third embodiment of the present invention. In particular, the InkData exchange infrastructure 10 outlined in solid lines in FIG. 1represents an infrastructure, realized by libraries that use ink data200 based on the common language model, for exchanging the ink data 200,wherein the ink data 200 are generalized so as to be commonly usable bya variety of application services and devices, some supporting pressuredata and others not supporting pressure data.

In FIG. 1, Device 10-1-1 includes, as an input sensor, a pen-type inputdevice capable of sensing pen pressure dat. Device 10-1 generates theink data 200 using an application provided by Application Service #1.The generated ink data 200 may then be output in a suitable output form(e.g., in packets) corresponding to the destination media (e.g., anetwork).

Device 10-1-2 is a tablet-type input device capable of receivinghand-drawn input made by a user's finger. The sensor of Device 10-1-2 isnot capable of outputting pen pressure data, but may still generate theink data 200 using an application provided for Application Service #2which does not require pressure data. The ink data 200 may then beoutputted in a suitable form corresponding to the destination media.

Device 10-3 is a desktop-type PC that subscribes to Application Service#2. Device 3 may process (e.g., render on its display screen orredistribute) the ink data 200 outputted from Device 10-1-1 or Device10-1-2, using an application provided by Application Service #2.

Application Service #1 and Application Service #2 running on Devices10-1-1, 10-1-2 and 10-3 all utilize the common information model(“Stroke Language”) representative of the ink data 200.

The ink data 200 according to embodiments of the present invention areusable by various types of devices on a variety of service applications,not limited to those devices and service applications capable ofobtaining or processing pen pressure data per se.

FIG. 45 illustrates data input/output at an ink data 200 processingsection 100 (generator 100T) and an ink data generating method on theleft hand side, and at an ink data processing section (reproducer 100R)and an ink data reproducing method on the right hand side, according toembodiments of the present invention. Ink data processing section 100Tcorresponds to 100T in FIG. 5 of the first embodiment.

The ink data processing section 100T according to embodiments of thepresent invention receives pen event data from a sensor of Device 10-1-1and a sensor of Device 10-1-2, wherein the pen event data represents apen (or finger) movement that created a pen (or finger) stroke andincludes coordinates data (e.g., (X, Y) positions) of the stroke. Thepen event data may also include device-dependent data such as penpressure data and pen tilt data. In FIG. 45, pen event Type 1 data fromthe sensor of Device 10-1-1 includes pen pressure data, wherein thesensor of Device 10-1-1 is a device capable of outputting pressure datasuch as a pen-tablet device driver or APIs for an EMR type pen tabletused with a pressure sensitive stylus. On the other hand, pen event Type2 data from Device 2 does not include any pressure data, wherein Device10-1-2 is a device incapable of outputting pressure data such as aniPad™ tablet or other capacitive-type touch sensor tablets. The ink dataprocessing section 100 receives device-dependent pen event data (Type 1and Type 2) and generates and outputs device-independent ink data 200according to embodiments of the present invention, which can be sharedby various devices regardless of their capability to process pressuredata.

To generate the ink data 200 based on the pen event data, the ink dataprocessing section 100 also receives context information (INPUT 2) aboutthe pen event data from the application or operating system used toinput the pen event data, as shown in FIG. 45. The generated ink data200 is a collection of various objects (stroke objects 210, metadataobjects 250, drawing style objects 230, manipulation objects 270, etc.,see FIG. 48B), which are arranged in a tree structure in FIG. 45. Thecontext information (INPUT 2) includes, for example, pen (tip) type(e.g., pencil, crayon, brush, etc.) and/or pen color informationreceived from a drawing application, pen tablet resolution informationand sampling rate, pen event entry time and location information, a penID, a user ID provided by an OS, and any other information regarding astroke provided by the (software) application used to generate (draw)the stroke.

The ink data model defines semantics of data used in the applicationarea (domain) that processes the ink data 200. When the common ink datamodel is shared amongst various applications and services, informationcan be freely shared, reliably, in a system structure in the domain thatprocesses the ink data 200.

In FIG. 45, broken arrows indicate that the ink information modeldefines each class object of the ink data 200, and a collection of inkdata objects forms the ink data 200.

The ink data processing section 100 outputs the generated ink data 200as a collection of data objects in a media format (e.g., in a file,packets, etc.) requested by the application that needs the ink data 200.There are generally two types of media formats:

-   -   (1) Stroke file format (SFF) that stores the ink data 200 in a        persistent (semi-permanent) form; and    -   (2) Stroke messaging format (SMF) that is suited for        transmitting the ink data 200 in a message or in real-time        communication.

The ink data processing section 100R receives the ink data 200 in SFF orSMF files, interprets and extracts the ink data 200 recorded in aspecific media as a byte or a binary sequence, and provides theextracted ink data 200 to various types of applications 300 that utilizethe ink data 200. In response to a request from one of the applications300-1 . . . 301-n, the ink data processing section 100R extracts inkdata objects and reproduces information defined by the ink data model,and provides the extracted (reproduced) ink data 200 to the requestingapplication 300-1, 300-2. The ink data processing section 100R istypically embodied as a library dynamically or statically linked to therequesting application 300 and executed on a processor in a personalcomputer. In another embodiment the ink data processing section 100R maybe a cloud server configured to reproduce the ink data 200 byinterpreting the ink data model.

Each of the applications 300-1 . . . 300-n retrieves a necessaryamount/portion of the ink data 200 extracted and reproduced by the inkdata processing section 100R and utilizes the retrieved ink data 200 inexecuting various operations. For example, the application 300-1 is adrawing application in the illustrated embodiment. A drawing applicationretrieves a full set of the reproduced ink data 200 and applies, forexample, scaling, rasterizing, and rendering operation on the retrievedink data 200 and may also output an image file.

In various embodiments, the ink data processing section 100 and the inkdata processing section 100R, as well as the applications 300 thatutilize the libraries realizing the generator/reproducer functions, maybe embodied in one or more computing devices each including memory and aCPU (central processing unit) or a GPU (graphics processing unit). Forexample, the ink data processing section 100, the ink data processingsection 100R and the drawing application 300-1 may be embodied in onecomputing device. In this case the ink data processing section 100 andthe ink data processing section 100R can use the device memory to sharecommon ink data objects. FIGS. 46A-46C respectively illustrate threeconfiguration examples of an ink data generating apparatus or methodaccording to embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 46A illustrates an apparatus or method, in which the ink dataprocessing section 100T resides in a server that is different from astroke-inputting terminal that may be coupled to Device 10-1-2. Device10-1-2 obtains device-dependent pen event data that may or may notinclude pen pressure data. In the illustrated embodiment, Sensor ofDevice 10-1-2 obtains device-dependent pen event data of Type 2 thatdoes not include pen pressure data. Device 10-1-2 then transmits theobtained device-dependent pen event data via a network, such as theInternet, to the server that embodies the ink data processing section100T. The ink data processing section 100T implemented in the serverreceives the device-dependent pen event data from Device 10-1-2 andgenerates the ink data 200 as defined by the ink data model. Contextinformation (INPUT 2) regarding the pen event may also be provided byDevice 10-1-2 to the ink data processing section 100T, or may be omittedin case context information (INPUT 2) is not necessary when, forexample, the application provided by the server utilizes a common pentype.

FIG. 46B illustrates another apparatus or method, in which the ink dataprocessing section 100T resides in a Device 10-1, wherein the Device10-1-1 also includes a device driver to control Device 10-1-1. Device10-1-1 obtains device-dependent raw data that may or may not include penpressure data. In the illustrated embodiment, the sensor of Device10-1-1 obtains raw data that includes pen pressure data. The sensor ofDevice 10-1 sends the raw data including pen pressure data to an I/O ofthe terminal via a suitable interface protocol such as the USB. Thedevice driver in the terminal processes the received raw data to producedevice-dependent pen event data of Type 1 that includes pen pressuredata. The ink data processing section 100 of the device 10-1-1 receivesthe device-dependent pen event data of Type 1 from the device driver andgenerates the device-independent ink data 200 defined by the ink datamodel. At this time, as illustrated, the ink data processing section 100may also receive context information (INPUT 2) regarding the pen eventdata from the application and/or OS operating on the terminal. Thegenerated ink data 200 may be serialized in the form of a byte sequenceor a bit or byte sequence and recorded onto suitable media (network,storage device, etc.).

FIG. 46C illustrates yet another apparatus or method, in which the inkdata processing section 100T resides in a terminal that also includes aninput sensor (e.g., touch sensor). For example, Device 10-1-2 of FIG.46C is an electrostatic capacitive-type touch sensor that may functionas a terminal, and Device 10-1-2 includes the ink data processingsection 100 in addition to the touch sensor. The touch sensor includes acontrol IC capable of obtaining device-dependent positional data (e.g.,positions touched by fingers) but may or may not be able to obtain pen(or finger) pressure data or other pen-specific data (angle, tilt,etc.). In the illustrated embodiment, the touch sensor obtains and sendspen event data of Type 2 that does not include pen pressure data. Theink data processing section 100T receives the device-dependent pen eventdata of Type 2 from the sensor's control IC and generates thedevice-independent ink data 200 defined by the ink data model. At thistime the ink data processing section 100 may also receive contextinformation (INPUT 2) regarding the pen event data (INPUT 1), if any,from the application and/or OS operating on Device 10-1-2. The ink data200 may then be outputted in the form of a byte sequence or a bitsequence recorded onto suitable media (network, storage device, etc.) ina persistent form (SFF) or in a messaging packet form (SMF), etc.

FIGS. 47A and 47B illustrate operation of an ink data reproducingmethod, according to embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 47A illustrates a reproducing method, in which a server includesthe ink data processing section 100R (receiving and reproducing side),an application 300-1, the ink data processing section 100R, and memory(RAM) in which the ink data 200 in a certain format (e.g., SFF)generated by the ink data processing section 100T running with theserver, may be stored. The Ink data processing section 100R correspondsto 100R in FIG. 22 of the first embodiment. The application 300-1invokes static/dynamic libraries of the ink data processing section 100Rto get data necessary for the application 300-1. In the illustratedembodiment, the application 300-1 is a drawing display program. The inkdata processing section 100R may selectively extract and reproduce thenecessary data from among the ink data stored in the RAM and provide thereproduced necessary data to the application 300-1. For example, thereproduced necessary data may include position data and RGB color data,but may or may not include variable stroke width data. The application300-1 receives the reproduced necessary data from the ink dataprocessing section 100R and performs necessary drawing operations, suchas interpolation, geometry generation and rasterization, to therebyoutput (render) image data on a display screen.

FIG. 47B illustrates another reproducing method, in which a device 10-3includes the ink data processing section 100R and an application 300-2.In this case, the ink data 200 generated by the ink data processingsection 100 (not shown) are prepared into messages or packetizedpursuant to a streaming protocol (e.g., in SMF), and outputted to anetwork, for example. The application 300-2 requests the ink dataprocessing section 100R to obtain data necessary for the application300-2. In the illustrated embodiment, the application 300-2 is acharacter image textization application that converts hand-drawn textinto machine-readable text pursuant to any text encoding scheme. Assuch, the application 300-2 requires position data (X-Y data), but doesnot necessarily require RGB color data. Also, the application 300-2 mayrequire information about an author of the ink data 200 (so as todistinguish a particular author's distinctive handwriting, for example).

The ink data processing section 100R may selectively extract andreproduce the data necessary for the application 300-2 from among theink data 200 in the messages or packets (in SMF) received from thenetwork, and provide the reproduced necessary data to the application300-2. The application 300-2 receives the reproduced necessary data fromthe ink data processing section 100R and performs necessary textizationoperations to output the textization result, perhaps together with anauthor ID.

As described above, functions and operations of the ink data processingsection 100 and the ink data processing section 100R may be distributedor consolidated amongst various devices (input devices, terminals,servers, etc.) on the Internet infrastructure depending on eachapplication and the type of media used in each embodiment.

[2] Stroke Language (SL) and Stroke File Format (SFF)

[2-1] Ink Data Model (“Stroke Language”) (FIGS. 48A-48I)

FIGS. 48A and 48B are Entity-Relationship diagrams illustrating aninformation model for ink data 200 (Stroke Language) according toembodiments of the present invention.

In the figures, a box indicates an object or class used in theinformation model. For example, objects “stroke,” “point,” and“metadata” are used. The objects include class objects defined byobject-oriented language as well as data structures such as a structureexpressed as a collection of attribute data.

An oval in FIG. 48B indicates an attribute of an object included in abox. For example, attributes “position,” “color” and “radius” are usedfor the data object “Point.” Of attributes, those shown in solid ovalsare necessary attributes for the corresponding data object. For example,attribute “position” is a necessary attribute for the data object“point.” Those ovals shown in broken lines are extendable attributeswhich can be added. For example, attribute “color” is merely addable andnot necessary for the data object “point.” A diamond in the figuresindicates a relationship between the data objects connected by thediamond. For example, a diamond labeled “contained” means that one ofthe data objects connected by the diamond is contained in the other dataobject.

In general, an “information model” describes and defines data semanticsin an object area (domain), and represents concepts, relationships,constraints, rules and processing used in the domain. An informationmodel provides a systematic structure that allows information requestsin the context within the domain to be shared, reliably, amongst variousapplications and services. The ink data model outputted by the ink dataprocessing section 100T and/or reproduced by the ink data processingsection 100R is configured to be able to express a trace of a strokeinputted by a pen moved by a user, and attributes of the pen used toinput a trace such as a pen type (pencil, brush, etc.) and a pen color.

FIG. 48A illustrates four sub-domains in the information model for theink data 200. The information model for ink data 200 can be conceptuallycategorized into the following four sub-domains based on the functionsand purposes of various data objects:

(SM) Stroke Model sub-domain, which includes a stroke object 210 and apoint object, both defining the position (geometry) and the layout ofthe ink data 200.

(MD) Metadata sub-domain, which mainly defines metadata for the strokeobject 210;

(R) drawing style object 230 (Rasterization sub-domain, which mainlydefines information necessary to convert the stroke data (strokeobjects) to image data; and

(M) Manipulation sub-domain, which includes a group of data objects fordynamically manipulating the stroke objects or the instances of thestroke objects, such as deleting, dividing, moving and copying thestroke objects.

Each of the sub-domains will be described below in additional referenceto FIG. 48B.

<(SM) Stroke Model Sub-domain>

The Stroke Model sub-domain includes stroke object 210, point objects,and canvas objects.

(SM1) A stroke object 210 is an essential component of the ink datamodel and forms the core of the ink data 200.

FIG. 48C illustrates the structure of a stroke object 210. A strokeobject 210 includes point objects of the “1st point” through the “n-thpoint” which collectively define the geometry of a stroke. The strokeobject 210 corresponds to data tagged with “trace” in InkML (D1), “Path”in SVG 1.1 (D3), and “Canvas Path” in HTML 5 (D4) specifications.

A stroke object 210 may include startParameter 301 and endParameter 303values as object attributes, as described above in reference to thefirst embodiment. In a stroke object 210 including the startParameter301 and endParameter 303 as attributes, the startParameter 301 andendParameter 303 are defined separately from the point objects. Thestroke object 210 may include, as extendable attributes per stroke,“color” and “radius” (may be substituted with “width” for convenience)attributes. These attributes will be described in detail below.

(SM2) A point object is an object such that N number of point objectsare contained in one stroke object 210. A point object includes as anecessary attribute a “position,” which indicates a position in a given(e.g., 2D) coordinate system. The point object may include, asextendable attributes, “color,” “radius,” etc. The “color” may be setper point, or may be set per stroke.

When the same attribute (e.g., color) is defined for multiple dataobjects in a conceptual tree structure, the attribute given to alower-level object (e.g., objects closer to the point objects) is givenpriority. For example, if the color of a stroke (R, G, B andtransparency alpha (α)) is expressed in a 4D vector (R1, G1, B1, α1),and if the color of the 3rd point in the stroke is defined as (R2, G2,B2, α2), the color of the 3rd point is determined to be (R2, G2, B2,α2). As another example, if the color attributes vary between ashape-filling rasterization (drawing style) object to be applied to astroke object 210 and the stroke object 210 itself, the color attributeof the stroke object 210 itself takes priority.

The stroke object 210 or the point object may be considered aspossessing the “addition” command itself. Each time a new stroke object210 or a new point object is generated, it commands that the new strokeobject 210 or the new point object be added to the data structure.

(SM3) A canvas object indicates the size of a drawing area (“canvas”)used when one or more strokes are inputted, and includes as attributeswidth “W” and height “H,” for example. It may also indicate the amountof ink absorption per type of paper, such as Japanese paper, carbonpaper, regular paper, copy paper, photographic paper, etc. Paper typeinformation can be combined with rasterization (drawing style) objectsto determine the actual image representation of the ink data 200.

FIG. 48D illustrates a canvas object. The drawing on the left indicatesthe size of a drawing area when a stroke is inputted. It illustratesthat the stroke is inputted to the drawing area defined by width “W1”and height “H1.” The drawing on the right illustrates how the canvassize (W1, H1) obtained from the ink data 200 may be used to reproducethe stroke. In the illustrated example, it is assumed that the stroke isreproduced on a device, such as a mobile terminal, including a smallerdrawing area having width “W2” and height “H2” than the area (W1, H1)used when the stroke is originally drawn. In such a case, the originaldrawing area (W1, H1) and the relative size/position of the stroke tothe original drawing area may be used in enlarging, reducing(shrinking), cropping or offsetting the stroke to fit the given canvasarea of the rendering device (W2, H2).

<(MD) Metadata Sub-domain>

The Metadata sub-domain includes metadata objects 250 that each definesmetadata for a stroke object 210, wherein the metadata includes contextinformation (INPUT 2) regarding the pen event data used to generate thestroke object 210.

(MD1) A metadata object 250 has a one-to-one relationship to a strokeobject 210 to “describe” the stroke object 210.

-   -   1) A timestamp attribute contains time information at which the        stroke was recorded and represents, for example, a value of UNIX        time in a defined format (32-bit unsigned integer). FIG. 48E        illustrates the effect of using a timestamp attribute per        stroke. Assume that two strokes a and b were recorded by two        separated users substantially simultaneously. The drawing on the        left shows that stroke a was drawn after stroke b, i.e., the        timestamp value for stroke a is greater than the timestamp value        for stroke b. The drawing on the right shows that stroke a was        drawn before stroke b, i.e., the timestamp value for stroke a is        less than the timestamp value for stroke b. Based on different        timestamp values respectively associated with different strokes,        it is possible to accurately render strokes entered by multiple        users by determining which stroke should be placed above other        stroke(s) at each cross-section, for example.    -   2) An author attribute contains information specifying the        author who has recorded a stroke.    -   3) A pen ID attribute is information that specifies a pen used        to record a stroke. Ideally, an ID is globally unique to each        pen. When ID information is not available or when pen ID needs        to be robustly established, pen ID may be used in connection        with a sensor-side ID of a sensor used to detect input made by        the pen.

Using the attributes described above, stroke metadata may describe, asnon-limiting examples, when and by whom a stroke was drawn using whichparticular pen.

<(R) Drawing Style Object (Rasterization) Sub-domain>

The Drawing style object (Rasterization) sub-domain includes a group ofdrawing style objects 230 that each retains what qualifying or modifyingprocess(es) were associated with a stroke object 210 when the stroke wasinputted. A drawing style object 230 is built from context information(INPUT 2) regarding the pen even data based on which the stroke object210 is generated. For example, drawing style objects record variousqualifying or modifying processes associated with (applied to) strokessuch as different drawing tool attributes (brush, pencil, crayon, etc.)and different pen tip width. The following objects (collectively called“drawing style objects”) may be part of the Rasterization sub-domain.

(R1) A rasterization style object is a “rendering” object that has anM:N ratio relationship to a stroke object 210. For example, M (e.g., 5)number of style objects (including their extendable objects) may beapplied to render N (e.g., 20) number of stroke objects. The styleobject is a so-called super-class object, whose attributes may beinherited by other object classes such as a shape filling style objectin an extended relationship. The style object includes “composition” asan attribute. “Composition” indicates what type of function (e.g.,normal, multiply, min, max of the current and previous strokes, erase,etc.) is to be used when blending a stroke with previously-createdstrokes or with background. FIG. 48F includes conceptual illustration ofthree representative objects that extend the style object to qualify ormodify a stroke object 210: a shape filling style object, a particlesscattering style object, and an area replication style object.

(R2) A shape filling style object, as illustrated at the top in FIG.48F, is applied to a stroke object 210 to define the stroke outline andcolor when the stroke object 210 is rendered (drawn) on a screen. Theshape filling style object defines multiple circles to be respectivelypositioned relative to multiple point objects that form the strokeobject 210, wherein each circle may be associated with radius and colorattributes when each point object is not associated with radius andcolor attributes. Use of the radius and color attributes to define apoint object or a stroke object 210, which consists of multiple pointobjects, is one of the characteristics of the present invention and willbe described in detail below. A shape filling style object may alsoinclude an anti-aliasing attribute that defines what algorithm should beused to visually eliminate edges of the stroke outline which is definedby an envelope of a series of overlapping circles.

(R3) A particles scattering style object, as illustrated in the middleof FIG. 48F, uses a “particle” instead of a circle used in the shapefilling style object described above. A particles scattering styleobject includes “radius” and “color” attributes, similarly to the shapefilling style object described above.

The particles scattering style object also includes an attribute “RandomSeed” (see FIG. 48B), which is an integer value and used to generatepseudo-random numbers in order to simulate “roughness” or “splashes” fortools like a pencil or a watercolor brush. The “random seed” attributeis stored in a file format in order to be able to exactly render thesame drawing every time when the user opens the file or remote userreceives the ink data.

Attribute “Shape Rotation” indicates whether each particle is to berotated at a random rotation angle or to be rotated along a certaintrajectory.

Attribute “Spacing” indicates the distance between two consecutiveparticles.

Attribute “Range” indicates each particle's offset value in a directionperpendicular to the trajectory direction, as indicate by an arrow inFIG. 48F. Within the width defined by the arrow, the location of aparticle may be randomly offset (changed) based on a random numbergenerated based on the random seed.

Attribute “Fill” defines texture to be applied to the shape, such ashatching.

Attribute “Fill Offset” indicates a cut-out position of texture appliedto the shape such as hatching, and is used to define and change thecut-out position to avoid the same texture being consecutively applied.

Attribute “Build up” indicates whether the number of generated particlesis to increase according to passage of time when a pen is situated at afixed point for a continuous period of time.

Attribute “Mixing” defines what type of function (e.g., normal,multiply, none, etc.) is to be used to calculate the color of a positionwhere two consecutive particles overlap with each other. For example itmay define that the color should be the same as one of the particles'color or a darker color (e.g., mixture of the two colors).

(R4) An area replication style object, as illustrated at the bottom ofFIG. 48F, is used to extend a style object. An area replication styleobject sets an area defined by closed curves interpolated betweenpoints. Attribute “transformation matrix” retains an affinetransformation matrix to be applied to the content within the areaenclosed by the closed curves. Based on the transformation matrix, thearea content may be rendered to a different coordinate. Transformationbased on the matrix only impacts the rendering style of a stroke object210, and does not manipulate or modify the stroke object 210 itself.

<(M) Manipulation Sub-domain>

The Manipulation sub-domain defines a transform (or a manipulationobject) to manipulate (divide, delete, copy and paste, modify, etc.) awhole or a part of a pre-existing stroke object 210 generated accordingto the ink data model.

(M1) A slice object 274 is a manipulation object 270 to be applied toextract one or two portions of a stroke object 210. FIG. 48G illustratesthe operation of a slice object 274. The drawing at the top in FIG. 48Gillustrates a stroke object 210 before the slice object 274 is applied.The slice object 274 is represented by another stroke having “WIDTH”which crosses (intersects) the stroke object 210. The slice object 274having “WIDTH” is typically associated with a “delete” function. Thepositions on the stroke object 210 at which the slice object 274 having“WIDTH” intersects are located, respectively, between the k-th point andthe (k+1)-th point, and between the (k+2)-th point and the (k+3)-thpoint. The original stroke curve is generated by interpolating eachpoint with a Catmull-Rom curve, and in order to cut the stroke into twostrokes without modifying the shape of the original stroke, when thestroke is sliced, no new end point objects are generated for the newlycreated end points. Instead, a value for the new endParameter 303 n isset as an attribute for the first stroke, and a value of the newstartParameter 301 n is set as an attribute for the second stroke object210, as shown in the bottom drawing of FIG. 48G. The new endParameter303 n and startParameter 301 n are expressed as one or several “float”point numbers indicative of an internal division point between twopoints defining the first displayed segment or the last displayedsegment. For example, the new endParameter 303 n for the first strokemay be defined as an internal division point between the original k-thpoint and the original (k+1)-th point. Thus, the shape of the originalstroke can be used to represent the shapes of two newly created stokes.In some embodiments, a sliced (removed) stroke portion extending along“WIDTH” in FIG. 48G may be represented as the “third” stroke dividedfrom the original stroke.

According to the method described above, an internal division pointbetween two points in the original stroke is retained as an attribute(new endParameter 303 n and new startParameter 301 n) for the newlycreated (sliced) stroke. As such, no new point objects are created as aresult of the slice operation and the original collection of “inputpoints” is not modified. Accordingly, when a curve is to be derived froma collection of interpolated Catmull-Rom curves, the curve outline doesnot change between before and after the slicing operation.

Attributes “Alter Style” and “Alter metadata” indicate whether theattributes of plural strokes divided from the original stroke by theslice operation are altered (newly-defined) for the divided strokes(e.g., “Author” attribute), or unaltered and the same as the attributesassociated with the original stroke (e.g., pen color attribute).

The start and end parameters 301 and 303 are attributes indicative ofthe start and end positions of two strokes, respectively, which aredivided from the original stroke.

Attribute “Point Range” defines the range of points over which thecrossing stroke (the slicing manipulation object) defined by “WIDTH” inFIG. 48G intersects the stroke object 210 to be manipulated. In FIG.48G, the point range includes the (k+1)-th point and the (k+2)-th point.

FIG. 48H illustrates the “erase” function realized by applying theslicing manipulation object When such “erasing” manipulation object isapplied to a pre-existing stroke object 210, the stroke object 210 isdivided into two strokes—the first stroke (stroke 1) having a newendParameter 303 n and the second stroke (stroke 2) having a newendParameter 301 n point, with an exact portion (e.g., betweenP_intersect_L and P_intersect_R in Hole_segment 1801 in FIG. 18) in themiddle being “erased.” In this case two new strokes (stroke 1 and stroke2) are to be generated and middle part are to be erased when thismanipulation is finalized (committed) to modify the original singlestroke object 210.

(M2) A selection object, as illustrated in FIG. 48I, is a manipulationobject that “contains” a plural (N) number of slice objects 274 (orslicing manipulation objects). The selection object “selects” an area(slice_2) enclosed by the plural (N) number of slice objects 274(slice_1, slice3, and slice_3), such that any portion of pre-existingstroke object 210 inside the selected area can then be manipulated(moved, copied, enlarged, shrunk, etc.) by applying a transformationmatrix for the portion In FIG. 48I, the selected area shown in a lassoshaped dotted closed curve includes a partially sliced stroke object210, which can then be manipulated, for example, moved (translated) asillustrated in FIG. 48I.

Attribute “transformation matrix” is an affine transformation matrix.The illustrated example shows the values within the area beingtranslated by tx and ty. When a matrix object is used to define certainmanipulation, it is possible to express points within an area (slice_2)as if they have virtually moved to different locations. In this casethree new strokes (stroke1, stroke2, and stroke3) are to be generatedwhen this manipulation object is finalized (committed) to modify theoriginal single stroke object 210.

Attribute “Duplicate” indicates whether to retain an object at theoriginal position (before transformation) even after application of anaffine transformation matrix to virtually move the object to a differentposition. For example, by retaining the original position/area inaddition to the virtually-moved new position/area, it is possibleachieve copying wherein the original position/area is copied onto thenew position/area.

[2-2] Sample Stroke File Format (FIGS. 48J-48L)

FIG. 48J illustrates the ink data structure (object tree) generated orhandled by the ink data processing section 100 (100T or 100R), accordingto the definition of the ink data model as shown in FIG. 48B, as well asa stroke file format (SFF) file in which the ink data structure isserialized and persisted, according to embodiments of the presentinvention.

The upper portion of FIG. 48J illustrates an ink data structuregenerated by the ink data processing section 100 in its internalprocessing resource, such as in memory space. For example, the strokeobject 210 is instanced in #1 through #i instances. In each of i numberof stroke objects, one or more point objects are instanced (point #1through #j), and one metadata object 250 and one drawing style object230 are defined in association with each other (in the form of aninstance tree). The data structure is according to the definition of theink data model as shown in the entity-relationship (ER) diagram of FIG.48B. In FIG. 48J, stroke #1 and stroke #2 include differently-namedstyle objects (style #1 and style #2), though the substantive data ineach of the style objects is the same. This occurs, for example, whenstroke #1 and stroke #2 are drawn using the same drawing tool (havingthe same pen tip type and pen color) in the same drawing application.

The bottom portion of FIG. 48J illustrates an example of a Stroke FileFormat (SFF) file in which the data structure shown in the upper portionof FIG. 48J is arranged. That is, for each stroke object #1 through #i,point objects #1 through #j that form the stroke object 210, themetadata object 250 that describes the stroke object 210, and thedrawing style object 230 that defines how the stroke object 210 isrendered (drawn) on a screen are defined in the SFF file. As shown, onefile named “InkDataFile” contains information about a plurality ofstrokes #1 through #i.

<Information about Stroke #1>

-   -   (1) First, information regarding stroke #1 itself is described.        The information may include byte sequence(s) (or binary        sequence(s), herein interchangeably used) in which attributes of        stroke #1 such as a startParameter 301 and an endParameter 303        of stroke #1 are encoded. The information also includes byte        sequence(s) in which a group of point objects #1 through #j that        form stroke #1 are encoded.    -   (2) Second, byte sequence(s) are included, in which a metadata        object 250 that “describes” stroke #1 is encoded.    -   (3) Third, byte sequence(s) are included, in which a drawing        style object 230 that “renders” stroke #1 is encoded.

<Information about Stroke #2>

The same formatting process is performed for stroke #2, as in the casefor stroke #1 above. In the example of FIG. 48J, the values of drawingstyle object #1 are the same as the values of drawing style object #2.In this case, it may be preferable not to repeat the same values in apersisted file format (SFF) to save file space and to avoid redundancy.Thus, the same values are not repeated as drawing style object #2 and,as shown, no drawing style object is included after the metadata object#2. On the reproduction side, the ink data processing section 100R willcontinue using the same drawing style object #1 to render each strokeobject 210 until a new (different) drawing style object 230 is found.That is, the file generation side and the reproduction side may agree inadvance that, in case a style object is omitted for a stroke object 210,the same style object used for the previous stroke object 210 is to beused.

FIG. 48K illustrates a data type of each class when each class of dataobject (a metadata object 250, a canvas object, a drawing style object230) is serialized and stored in an SFF file. In FIG. 48K, the“InkDataFile” is an object located at a data structure root.

In FIG. 48K, the first line of each block indicates the name of anobject defined according to the ink data model of the present invention.The second and subsequent lines in each block indicate attributes of thenamed object in the left column and their data types (integer, unsignedChar, etc.) in the right column. The attributes may be encoded using asuitable method, such as ASN.1, BER and DER encoding methods, orencoding methods shown in a schema file of FIG. 10 of the firstembodiment such as “sint32-type” and “float.”

The semantics of attributes explained in FIG. 48K are the same as theattributes described above in reference to FIG. 48B, except for aportion of the information that is needed for the purpose of persistingthe ink data 200, such as “strokeCount” which indicates how many strokeobjects are included in a given SFF file.

Data object InkDataFile at the root of the structure includes binarysequence(s) that are persisted in a file according to embodiments of thepresent invention.

In the first line, “Header” is a data needed for the purpose ofpersistently storing InkDataFile, and includes information regarding theversion of the ink data model definition, etc., for use in processingsubsequent binary sequence(s). The header may further includeinformation such as whether data is compressed or not, a binary encodingmethod used, and other information needed for the application 300 or thereproducer 100R to reproduce the ink data 200 as intended by the inkdata generation side.

In the second line, “DecimalPrecision” indicates the accuracy level ofvalues, such as positional coordinate values, which are expressed asdecimal numbers in the recording format. “DecimalPrecision” correspondsto the parameter in line 4 of FIG. 10 of the first embodiment describedabove. The “DecimalPrecision” is not defined in the ink data model, butis a piece of data needed for the purpose of persisting InkDataFile. Useof the “decimalPrecision” is one of characteristics of the presentinvention and will be described in detail below. The decimalPrecisionnumbers (or accuracy values) correspond to reciprocal numbers ofresolution. For example, when positional coordinate values areobtainable at resolution of 0.01 units (0.01 pixels, for example), theaccuracy value expressed as decimalPrecision may be set as 100(reciprocal of 0.01). For the purpose of more optimal storage,decimalPrecision value may be expressed in an exponential form. Forexample, value 100 can be expressed as the exponent 2 of a base 10 (insome cases the base might be omitted). Use of the accuracy value in theink data generating and reproducing methods according to embodiments ofthe present invention will be more fully described below in reference toFIGS. 58 and 66.

In the third line, “MetaData” corresponds to the metadata object 250explained above in reference to FIGS. 48B and 48E.

In the fourth line, “Canvas” corresponds to the canvas object explainedabove in reference to FIGS. 48B and 48D.

In the fifth line, “Style” corresponds to the (drawing) style objectexplained above in reference to FIGS. 48B and 48F.

In the sixth line, “strokesCount” is a piece of information necessaryfor the purpose of persisting InkDataFile, and is a code or an integervalue that indicates the number of strokes included in the particularInkDataFile. As such, this attribute is not included in the ink datamodel itself. Typically, the strokesCount is added to the ink data codesequence(s) when they are not to be dynamically modified but insteadoutputted to static, storage-type media (a file, disk, etc.).Alternatively the strokesCount is not set or includes no value (NULL),for example, when the ink data 200 is to be continuously outputted forreal-time communication with a remotely-located ink data reproducingdevice.

In the seventh line, “strokes” relate to a group of object instances“strokes” (or stroke objects) that are included in the ink data model,wherein each “stroke” (each stroke object 210) contains one or morepoint objects and various attributes, as will be described in FIG. 48L.

FIG. 48L illustrates information included in each of strokes 1 through N(strokesCount) number of stroke objects. In the first and second lines,“Start_value” and “End_value” correspond to the startParameter 301 andendParameter 303 described above in reference to FIG. 48C. As describedabove in reference to the first embodiment, these two parameters arestored as attributes of stroke object 210 separately from the pointobjects included in the stroke object 210.

In the fourth line, “StrokeType variableAlpha” indicates whether thetransparency (alpha) associated with the stroke is variable along thelength of the stroke. “VariableAlpha” is a flag that indicates whetherthe transparency of a stroke object 210 is allowed to vary along itslength or not (i.e., fixed), and is typically expressed as a Booleanvalue (TRUE or FALSE). In some embodiments, the attribute “StrokeTypevariableAlpha” does not exist in the ink data model itself as shown inFIG. 48B, and is used when the stroke objects are persisted in an SFFfile (InkDataFile). Use of “variableAlpha” in various embodiments of theinvention will be described in detail below.

The fifth through eighth values—“alpha,” “red,” “green” and“blue”—together constitute the “color” attribute of the stroke object210.

In the fifth line, “alpha” indicates a fixed transparency value (oropacity/ink darkness value) to be used in case “alpha” of the stroke isnot variable, as indicated by “variableAlpha=false” for example. When“alpha” is fixed, the fixed “alpha” is applied along the length of thestroke object 210, i.e., to each of the point objects that form thestroke object 210.

In the sixth through eighth lines, “red,” “green” and “blue” areinformation for determining color data of the stroke object 210 when anRGB color space is used.

In the ninth line, “pointsCount” indicates the number of points includedin the stroke object 210. Similarly to “strokesCount” described above,“pointsCount” is used for the purpose of persistenting InkDataFile in anSFF file and may be determined at a timing when the ink data 200 is tobe outputted to static, storage-type media (as opposed to moretransitory, real-time communication type media). Alternatively,“pointsCount” may not exist in the data structure or may include novalue (NULL), for example, when the ink data 200 is to be outputtedinstead to real-time-type media.

In the tenth line, “points” indicate information regarding each of thepoint objects that form the stroke object 210.

A point object (“point” in FIG. 48L) is a data object that includesinformation regarding each of 1 through N (pointsCount) number of pointsincluded in the stroke that is being processed. As shown in FIG. 48B, inone stroke object 210, N (pointsCount) number of point objects areincluded.

In the first line of the box defining “point,” “if” phrase means thatsyntax changes for each “point” data object depending on thevariableAlpha value (TRUE or FALSE) indicating whether the strokeincludes a length-wise variable alpha or not.

-   -   (i) The second through sixth lines indicate data included in        “point” data object in case variableAlpha value is TRUE (i.e.,        the stroke includes a length-wise variable alpha value).    -   In the second line, “x” indicates a first coordinate value of        the point that is being processed.    -   In the third line, “y” indicates a second coordinate value of        the point being processed.    -   Thus, “x” and “y” together define 2D coordinates of the point.    -   In the fourth line, “radius” indicates the size of a radius of a        circle that includes the point as a center. “Radius” is an        attribute associated with a point object, and is not necessarily        associated with a pen pressure value or pen tip force. Rather,        “radius” is a generalized higher concept having semantics that        encompass lower concepts such as the concept of pressure and        force, as will be more fully described below.    -   In the fifth line, “alpha” indicates an alpha value associated        with the point object.    -   It should be noted that the data type of the data included in        the second through fifth lines of the point object is either an        integer (int) or a ushort (or uchar), as opposed to a floating        point (float) data type typically used in drawing processing        applications, as will be more fully described in reference to        FIG. 58 below.    -   (ii) The seventh through eleventh lines indicate data included        in “point” data object in case variableAlpha value is FALSE        (i.e., the stroke does not include variable alpha, i.e., the        alpha (transparency) value is fixed for the length of the        stroke).    -   In the seventh line, “x” indicates a first coordinate value of        the point. (The same as the second line described above.)    -   In the eighth line, “y” indicates a second coordinate value of        the point. (The same as the third line described above.)    -   Thus, “x” and “y” together define 2D coordinates of the point.    -   In the ninth line, “radius” indicates the size of a radius of a        circle that includes the point as a center. (The same as the        fourth line described above.)

Because in this case the stroke object 210 has a fixed alpha value to beapplied to each of the point objects forming the stroke object 210, noalpha value is defined for the point object.

As described above, syntax of data object “point” changes depending onthe variableAlpha value (TRUE or FALSE) indicating whether a strokeobject 210 includes a variable alpha value or a fixed alpha value alongthe length, as will be more fully described below in reference to FIG.57.

The twelfth and subsequent lines indicate that syntax changes for each“point” data object depending on the reserveRawflag value, toselectively include additional attributes. For example, it is possibleto extend (expand) the data object to include “timestamp” informationfor each point, without losing the original information, when thereserveRawflag is set TRUE.

The ink data model as well as the data object InkDataFile in the strokefile format (SFF) defined by the syntax and semantics of the ink datamodel according to embodiments of the present invention have beendescribed above in reference to FIGS. 48A-48L. Next, the ink dataprocessing section 100(100T) is described, which is operable to generateand output the ink data 200 having such data structure according toembodiments of the present invention.

[3] Ink Data Processing Section (FIGS. 49-63)

FIG. 49 is a functional block diagram of an ink data processing section100T according to embodiments of the present invention. Ink dataprocessing section 100T corresponds to 100T in FIG. 5. The ink dataprocessing section 100T generates ink data according to the definitionof the ink data model as described in FIGS. 48A-48L above based on thepen event and pen event context information (INPUT 2) provided by aninput device. The ink data processing section 100T outputs the generatedink data 200, for example, in an SFF file (“InkDataFile”) described inFIGS. 48J-48L above, in binary sequences, byte sequences, in packets,etc.

The ink data processing section 100T includes an ink data generationsection 120 and an ink data formatting section 140. The ink datageneration section 120 corresponds to stroke data object handlingsection 122 in FIG. 7. The ink data generation section 120 receivesvarious types of device-dependent input data (“INPUT1”), such as penevent data of Type 1 that includes pen pressure data and pen event dataof Type 2 that does not include pen pressure data. In FIG. 49, pen eventdata of Type 1 includes timestamp information (e.g., “doubletimestamp”), plural sets of XY coordinates (e.g., “float x, y”) and penpressure data (e.g., “float pressure”), and pen event data of Type 2includes timestamp information (e.g., “double timestamp”) and pluralsets of XY coordinates (e.g., “float x, y”). Instead of receiving thetimestamp information, the ink data generation section 120 may use thetime at which it receives the pen event data, for example, as thetimestamp information.

The ink data generation section 120 also receives context information(“INPUT2”) about the pen event data from the application or operatingsystem used to input the pen event data. For example, in case of astroke drawn using a drawing application, the context information (INPUT2) may include various parameter values that are set by the drawingapplication to draw the stroke. That is, the context information (INPUT2) may include configuration information defined for the purpose ofgenerating (drawing) strokes. The context information (INPUT 2) may beprovided for the pen event data of Type 1 and the pen event data of Type2, respectively, from two different applications if the pen event dataof Type 1 and Type 2 are respectively generated by the two applications.Alternatively, the context information (INPUT 2) for the pen event dataof Type 1 and Type 2 may be provided by the same application oroperating system commonly used to generate the pen event data of Type 1and Type 2.

As described above in reference to the stroke object handling section122 in FIG. 7 in the first embodiment, the ink data generation section120, based on the received pen event data of Type 1 of Type 2 and thereceived context information (INPUT 2), outputs a series of pointobjects each including XY coordinates (position) data and radius andalpha data regarding a point. As described above in reference to dataobject “point” in FIG. 48L, radius is an attribute associated with apoint and is not necessarily associated with pressure or pen tip force,but rather is a generalized device-independent higher concept havingsemantics that encompass lower level concepts such as pressure and pentip force, according to the definition of the ink data model ofembodiments of the present invention.

The ink data formatting section 140 receives the data for each pointincluding XY coordinates and radius and alpha data of the point, formatsthe inputted data into a data structure corresponding to the datastructure of the point object, for example as described in FIG. 48Labove, and outputs the formatted data. The data in the formatted pointobject are of data types of “int” (integer) “ushort,” “uchar,” etc., asopposed to being of floating point data type (“float”) typically used indrawing processing applications.

FIG. 50A is a flow diagram illustrating a process executed by the inkdata generation section 120 of FIG. 49, to output radius and alphainformation as attributes of a point object according to embodiments ofthe present invention. Description of outputting XY coordinates data(Position (X, Y)) is omitted because typically the ink data generationsection 120 merely passes the XY coordinates data that it receives ontothe ink data formatting section 140.

In step S1201, the ink data generation section 120 obtains necessarycontext information (INPUT 2) for each stroke that includes the point tobe processed. Sample context information (INPUT 2) will be describedbelow in reference to FIG. 50B.

In step S1202, it is decided whether the inputted data includes penpressure data or not.

In step S1203, after it is decided in step S1202 that the inputted dataincludes pen pressure data (“TRUE”), the pen pressure data of the pointmay be used to derive a parameter (vn—velocity) at that point. It can beobserved that when a greater pen pressure is applied at a point, thevelocity at that point becomes slower. Thus, vn can be correlatedgenerally in inverse proportion to the pressure data.

In step S1204, after it is decided in step S1202 that the inputted datadoes not include pen pressure data (“FALSE”), time information of thepoint is obtained. The time information may be received as inputinformation for each point that forms a stroke, or may be set as thetime at which the ink data generation section 120 (or the ink dataprocessing section 100T) receives the point information.

In step S1205, velocity of the point is derived based on the timeinformation of the point and adjacent point(s), as will be more fullydescribed below in reference to FIG. 51.

In step S1207, radius information of the point is obtained based on vn(velocity), phase information, and pen type information, as will be morefully described below in reference to FIG. 52.

In step S1209, alpha (transparency or opacity) information of the pointis obtained based on vn (velocity), phase information, and pen typeinformation, as will be more fully described below in reference to FIG.55.

FIG. 50B illustrates a sample GUI of an application or an operatingsystem that may be used to set some of the context information (INPUT 2)related to the ink data generation section 120. The context information(INPUT 2) provided to the ink data generation section 120 may include,for example, the maximum and minimum radius values (“Cntx1”), themaximum and minimum velocity values associated with the maximum andminimum radius values, as will be described in reference to FIG. 51below (“Cntx2”), functions used to derive the radius or alpha values(“Cntx3”), exceptional values that may be set for the BEGIN and ENDphase points of a stroke (see FIG. 53) (“Cntx4”), and pen typeinformation (not shown). The context information (INPUT 2) may bedefined in advance for the ink data generation section 120 or, as shownin FIG. 50B, may be explicitly defined by a user via the setting GUI.

FIG. 51 is a diagram illustrating the process of deriving velocity basedon the time information in step S1205 of FIG. 50A, according toembodiments of the present invention.

Velocity is derived by dividing distance by time. The denominator of thedivision may be a difference between the time at which the current pointcoordinate is obtained and the time at which the previous pointcoordinate is obtained. The numerator of the division may be adifference (distance) between the current point coordinate and theprevious point coordinate. When a sampling rate is fixed (when thedenominator is fixed), displacement between the current point coordinaterelative to the previous point coordinate may be used to indicatevelocity.

In embodiments of the present invention, velocity is outputted as aparameter value (vn) with the minimum value of 0.0 and the maximum valueof 1.0, i.e., as a min-max normalized velocity value, which may be setin “Cntx2” of FIG. 50B.

FIG. 52 is a flow diagram illustrating the process of deriving a radius,which is an attribute of a point object, in step S1207 of FIG. 50A. Ingeneral a radius is derived from parameter vn, which may be a normalizedvelocity value calculated in step S1205 above, or may be derived fromthe pen pressure data in step S1203, according to embodiments of thepresent invention.

In step S1207_01, the “phase” of a current point is determined.Referring additionally to FIG. 53, which illustrates the definition of“phase” of a point in a stroke according to embodiments of the presentinvention, phase is a concept that indicates where (at which position)within a stroke the current point is located. For example, the firstpoint of a stroke is of phase BEGIN, and the last point of a stroke isof phase END. The points between the first point and the last point areof phase MIDDLE. Phase of each point can be determined for each penevent type, such as Pen Down, Pen Move and Pen Up types. A Pen Downevent is an event in which a user starts to draw a stroke using apointer (pen, finger, etc.), a Pen Up event is an event in which theuser finishes drawing the stroke using the pointer, and a Pen Move eventis an event that occurs between the Pen Down event and the Pen Up event.

In step S1207_04, after it is determined in step S1207_01 that the pointto be processed is of phase BEGIN or END, i.e., the point is the firstpoint or the last point of the stroke, one or more points may be addedto the beginning of the stroke (ahead of the first point) and to theending of the stroke (after the last point).

In step S1207_02, for each of the points added to the beginning or theending of the stroke, an exceptional radius value set in “Ctnx4” of FIG.50B is set as a radius for the point, such as a radius of 0 or a radiusthat is larger than (e.g., twice) the normal radius, as will be morefully described below in reference to FIG. 72.

In step S1207_03, after it is determined in step S1207_01 that the pointto be processed is of phase MIDDLE, i.e., the point is neither the firstpoint nor the last point of the stroke, the pen type of a pen being usedto enter the pen event data is determined.

In step S1207_05, after it is determined in step S1207_03 that the pentype is normal (default), a radius is derived from parameter vn using anormal (default) function, such as the exponential attenuation (ordamping) function of FIG. 54 (see “Attenuate” in FIG. 54).

In step S1207_07, after it is determined in step S1207_03 that the pentype is special, such as a pen having a particularly soft pen tip, aradius is derived from parameter vn by using a special function such as“Sigmoid” and “Periodic” functions in FIG. 54. Any of the normal orspecial functions may be explicitly defined or modified as part of thecontext information “Cntx3” of FIG. 50B via the setting GUI.

FIG. 54 is a graph that illustrates three functions for deriving aradius from parameter vn (velocity), as used in steps S1207_05 andS1207_07 of FIG. 52, according to embodiments of the present invention.

The horizontal axis indicates parameter vn (velocity) and the verticalaxis indicates radius.

The solid line referred to as “Attenuate” indicates a normal attenuation(or damping) function used in step S1207_05 in FIG. 52. The functiondefines a relationship in which, when vn increases, radius isexponentially attenuated. The normal function is used for normal(default) types of pens. Use of this function to effect suchvn-to-radius conversion is based on the following observation.

[Observation A] Line width that increases due to pen pressurecorresponds to the area into which ink seeps out in paper.

[Observation B] The faster a pen moves the shorter time period the penhas, to have ink seep out at each point.

Based on Observations A and B above, it is theorized that line widthincreases when a pen moves slower, while line width decreases when a penmoves faster. The theory is based on that, as a pen moves faster, thepen has a shorter period of time at each point in contact to have inkseep out in paper to form a line (stroke). Line width is considered aseries of points each having radius. Accordingly, for normal pens, theattenuation (damping) function is used to convert parameter vn toradius, such that when velocity increases radius is exponentiallyattenuated, according to embodiments of the present invention.

It should be noted that, even with respect to a device incapable ofobtaining pen pressure data, the ink data processing section 100T of thepresent invention can calculate or obtain velocity information usingtimestamp information. For example, the ink data processing section 100Tmay use the local timing at which it receives pen stroke informationfrom such devices to thereby calculate or obtain timestamp information,based on which velocity vn can be determined for each point. Therefore,the ink data processing section 100T can reliably determine and outputradius of each point based on velocity vn, with respect to various typesof devices including devices capable of obtaining pressure data anddevices incapable of obtaining pressure data.

In FIG. 54, the broken line referred to as “SIGMOID” indicates a specialfunction in which attenuation occurs in steps, as opposed toexponentially, and the broken line referred to as “PERIODIC” indicatesanother special function which is periodic. Both of these specialfunctions may be applied to derive a radius from velocity for specialtypes of pens in step S1207_07 of FIG. 52, as will be more fullydescribed below in reference to FIG. 71.

It should be noted that application of any of these functions describedabove to convert velocity to point radius may be in real time.Alternatively, the conversion of parameter vn to radius may be performedin advance and the resulting data may be stored in a look-up table,which may be accessible by the ink data processing section 100T.

FIG. 55 is a flow diagram illustrating the process of deriving an alphavalue indicative of transparency (or opacity) of each point in stepS1209 of FIG. 50A, according to embodiments of the present invention.

In step S1209_03, the pen type of a pen being use to enter the pen eventdata is determined from the context information (INPUT 2).

In step S1209_05, after it is determined in step S1209_03 that the pentype is normal (default), an alpha is derived from parameter vn using anormal (power) function, such as the “POWER” function shown in FIG. 56

In step S1209_07, after it is determined in step S1209_03 that the pentype provided by the context information (INPUT 2) is special, such as apen having a particularly soft pen tip, an alpha is derived fromparameter vn by using a special function such as “SIGMOID” functionshown in FIG. 56.

FIG. 56 is a graph that illustrates two functions for deriving an alpha(transparency/opacity) from parameter vn (velocity), as used in stepsS1209_05 and 1209_07 of FIG. 55, according to embodiments of the presentinvention.

The horizontal axis indicates parameter vn and the vertical axisindicates alpha indicating transparency. For example, alpha 0.0 may meanfull transparency and alpha 1.0 may mean full non-transparency, i.e.,full opacity.

The solid line referred to as “POWER” indicates a normal power functionused in step S1209_05 in FIG. 55. The function defines a relationship inwhich, when velocity vn increases, alpha exponentially increases. Thenormal (power) function is used for normal (default) types of pens. Useof the normal function to effect such conversion from vn to alpha isbased on the following observation.

[Observation C] Ink darkness that increases due to pen pressurecorresponds to the area into which ink seeps out in paper.

[Observation D] The faster a pen moves the smaller amount of ink seepsout from the pen at each point (because the pen is in contact at eachpoint for a shorter time period).

Based on Observations C and D above, it is theorized that ink darknessincreases (opacity increases) when a pen moves slower, while inkdarkness decreases (transparency increases) when a pen moves faster. Thetheory is based on that, as a pen moves slower, more ink seeps out fromthe pen into paper at each point in contact to form a darker line(stroke) and, as the pen moves faster, less ink seeps out from the penat each point in contact to form a lighter line (stroke). Accordingly,for normal pens, the power function is used to convert parameter vn toalpha, such that when velocity increases alpha (transparency)exponentially increases, according to embodiments of the presentinvention.

It should be noted that, even with respect to a device incapable ofobtaining pen pressure data, the ink data processing section 100T of thepresent invention can reliably calculate or obtain velocity informationusing timestamp information. For example, the ink data processingsection 100T may use the timing at which it receives pen strokeinformation from such devices to thereby calculate or obtain timestampinformation, based on which velocity vn can be determined. Therefore,the ink data processing section 100T can reliably determine and outputalpha based on velocity vn, with respect to various types of devicesincluding devices capable of obtaining pressure data and devicesincapable of obtaining pressure data.

In FIG. 56, the broken line referred to as “SIGMOID” indicates a specialfunction, which is an example of an increasing function that may be usedto derive alpha from velocity for special types of pens in step S1209_07of FIG. 55.

It should be noted that application of any of these functions describedabove in reference to FIG. 56 may be in real time. Alternatively, theconversion of parameter vn to alpha may be performed in advance and theresulting data may be stored in a look-up table, which may be accessibleby the ink data processing section 100T.

As described above, the ink data generation section 120 of the ink dataprocessing section 100T determines radius and alpha values of each pointobject based on inputted pen event data, which may or may not includepen pressure data. As shown in FIG. 49, the point data driving section120 outputs the radius and alpha information in “float” data type in itsown internal memory. Then, the ink data formatting section 140 receivesthe radius and alpha information (float) as attributes of the pointobject, and outputs them in a stroke file format (SFF, see FIG. 48L) orin a stroke message format (SMF).

FIG. 57 is a flow diagram illustrating an ink data formatting process offormatting inputted radius and alpha information, as well as theinputted X and Y coordinate data, into a stroke file format (SFF) orinto a stroke message format (SMF). Generally, the formatting processS140 is performed by the ink data formatting section 140 of the ink dataprocessing section 100T as part of a process to generate the ink data200.

<Serialization of Data Object InkDataFile>

In step S1401, when serializing InkDataFile in the SFF, ink data andinformation necessary for the purpose of persistenting the InkDataFilein an SFF file is serialized. As an example of such necessaryinformation, a decimalPrecision value is serialized and encoded. In theillustrated example, value 100 is used as the decimalPrecision value of“unsigned int” data type, and value 100 is encoded using ASN.1, BERencoding method, or encoding methods shown in a schema file of FIG. 10of the first embodiment such as “sint32-type” and “float.” On the otherhand, when serializing InkDataFile in the SMF suited for real-timetransmission or messaging, the information necessary for the purpose ofpersistenting the ink data in the SFF may not be needed and thus stepS1401 may be omitted when formatting the ink data in the SMF. In stepS1402, a strokesCount value for the InkDataFile is encoded in the SFF(see FIG. 48L). On the other hand, when formatting to the SMF, astrokesCount value is not included and, thus, step S1402 may be omittedand the process may instead encode data indicating the last of all thestrokes being processed.

<Serializing of a Data Object “Stroke”>

The following steps starting with steps S1403 included in a largerrectangle in dotted lines in FIG. 57 are performed for each of the N(strokesCount) number of strokes included in the InkDataFile. As aresult, N number of stroke objects are formatted using a definedencoding method and are outputted.

In step S1405, a variableAlpha value is encoded in the stroke object 210being processed. As described above, the variableAlpha value(TRUE/FALSE) indicates whether the alpha value of the stroke is variablealong the length of the stroke.

In step S1406, a pointsCountvalue, which indicates the number of pointobjects included in the stroke object 210, is encoded. If thepointsCountvalue is not available, for example, in case of real-timetype applications (i.e., when formatting to the SMF), step S1406 may beomitted and the process may instead encode data indicating the end of astroke being processed.

<Serialization of Data Object “Point”>

The following steps starting with step S1407 included in a smallerrectangle in dotted lines in FIG. 57 are performed for each of thepointsCount number of points included in the stroke being formatted. Asa result, the pointsCount number of point objects are formatted and areoutputted.

In step S1409, it is determined whether the alpha value of the stroke,which includes the point being processed, is variable or not, i.e., itis determined whether the variableAlpha value is TRUE or FALSE.

In step S1411, after it is determined in step S1409 that alpha isvariable for the stroke along its length (“TRUE”) and thus alpha mayvary from a point to another point, XY coordinate values as well as theradius and alpha values are encoded for the point, as will be more fullydescribed below in reference to the upper portion of FIG. 58.

In step S1413, after it is determined in step S1409 that alpha is notvariable for the stroke (“FALSE”), only the XY coordinate values and theradius value are encoded for the point, and alpha is not encoded, aswill be more fully described below in reference to the lower portion ofFIG. 58.

At this point, the ink data 200 arranged in the defined data structureaccording to embodiments of the invention may be outputted to varioustypes of media in a suitable file format (e.g., SFF) or in a messageformat (e.g., SMF).

FIG. 58 illustrates an implementation example of steps S1411 and S1413of FIG. 57 described above, according to embodiments of the presentinvention.

Lines 01-07 in the upper portion of FIG. 58 are pseudocode correspondingto step S1411 of FIG. 57, when the XY coordinate values as well as boththe radius and alpha values are encoded for the point, in case the alphavalue is variable along the length of the stroke.

Lines 08-13 in the lower portion of FIG. 58 are pseudocode correspondingto step S1413 of FIG. 57, when the XY coordinate values and the radiusvalue are encoded but the alpha value is not encoded for the point, incase the alpha value is not variable for the stroke.

In FIG. 58, the sections indicated by “A” and “B” show how thedecimalPrecision value, described above, is utilized in implementationsof embodiments of the present invention.

Preferably, the XY coordinate values and the radius value of a point arekept in float data type or double data type until immediately before theoutput timing so as to maintain the highest accuracy possible for thevalues in the processor. On the other hand, it may be desirable to usethe smallest number of bits to represent each value for the purposes ofmaking the ink data 200 widely (commonly) understandable by differentdata interpretation methods and for the purpose of efficientlycompressing the resulting ink data 200.

Therefore, in step S1411, input X, Y and radius values are firstmultiplied by the decimalPrecision value indicative of the resolution(magnification) to standardize their units, as shown in “A” in FIG. 58,and thereafter are converted (cast) to int (integer) data type, as shownin “B”, as shown in the upper portion of FIG. 58.

In step S1413 as shown in the lower portion of FIG. 58 also, similarlyto step S1411, input X, Y and radius values are first multiplied by thedecimalPrecision value and thereafter are cast to int (integer) datatype.

In this connection, FIG. 59 illustrates conversion of floating data typeto integer data type used in steps S1411 and S1413 of FIG. 57, accordingto embodiments of the present invention.

In FIG. 59, input data 161 stored as of float data type is an exampleaccording to the IEEE 754 standard. In the input data 161, “s” is anencoding bit, “exponent” is an exponent of a floating-point number, and“fraction” is a mantissa of a floating-point number.

The input data 161 is multiplied by the decimalPrecision value, asindicated by “A” in FIG. 58 and described above, to produce multipliedinput data 163 of FIG. 59. The multiplied input data 163 is also afloating-point number including an exponent and a fraction (mantissa).

The multiplied input data 163 is converted (cast) from “float” to “int”(or “short” or “ushort”) as indicated by “B” in FIG. 58 and describedabove, to thereby produce an absolute value 165. The absolute value 165is no longer a floating-point number. In the illustrated embodiment, XYcoordinate values as well as the radius value are all cast (converted)to int (integer) values, though they may be cast to anynon-floating-point data type.

FIG. 60 illustrates the increased compression efficiency resulting fromthe data format conversion (casting) from “float” to “int” describedabove, according to embodiments of the present invention.

In FIG. 60, decimal numbers are used for ease of explanation andunderstanding. In the illustrated example, the circular constant pi (π)is multiplied by different indices of 10 (to the power of 0, +1, +2).

The left-hand side of FIG. 60 indicates values obtained prior to theprocessing of steps S1411 and S1413 of FIG. 58.

The right-hand side of FIG. 60 indicates values obtained after theprocessing of steps S1411 and S1413 of FIG. 58

The top three values and the last value included in rectangles on theleft-hand side are different floating-point numbers (3.0, 3.1 and 3.14)before the processing, but they all are converted to 3 after theprocessing as shown on the right-hand side. While the accuracy of eachnumber is somewhat compromised by the conversion, the frequency of useof the same value (e.g., 3 in this example) increases to facilitateefficient processing of the values in a processor, such as efficientcompression of the values. For example, data expressed in data typeinteger may be encoded using ASN.1, BER or DER encoding methods into afile or message protocol to be outputted.

FIG. 61 is a flow diagram illustrating a process, which may be executedin the “ink data formatting section” 140 of FIG. 49 to compressattributes of defined ink data objects, according to embodiments of thepresent invention.

In step S181, as a preliminary step, the generated ink data 200 to becompressed should be quantized as integer precision values, as performedin steps S1411 and S1413 of FIG. 57.

In step S183, the ink data formatting section 140 determines the type ofdata compression. For example, the determination may depend on theoutput format type. Also, the determination may be based on whether thecompression is for applications that require real-time data or forapplications that utilize data in storage-type media. If no compressionis to be performed (“NONE”), the process outputs the ink data values ininteger data type “as is.” Using the top three values described in FIG.60 for example, value “+3” represented in 32 bits may be outputted threetimes.

In step S185, after it is determined in step S183 that the first type ofcompression method is selected, the process categorizes data sequencessuch as X coordinate values, Y coordinate values, radius values, etc.,into streams according to their attributes, and applies the first typeof compression method to the generated ink data 200. For example, thefirst type of compression method is a run-length coding method. Usingthe top three values described in FIG. 60 for example, a code is usedthat indicates that value “+3” is repeated 3 times. The efficiency ofthe suggested coding technique can be improved by using several codingmethods, such as by performing delta encoding (data difference) on thevalues, before applying run-length coding. This will increase the numberof repeated values when the change between values is relativelyconstant.

In step S187, after it is determined in step S183 that the second typeof compression method is selected, the process applies the second typeof compression method to the generated ink data 200. For example, thesecond type of compression method is an entropy coding method usingexponential-Golomb code. It is a variable length coding method, whichapplies a shorter bit length to a value with a smaller absolute value,such as +3, as compared to values with larger absolute values.

<Modifications to the Ink Data Processing Section 100T and Ink DataGenerating Method>

As described above, the ink data processing section 100T according toembodiments of the present invention is capable of processing datareceived from various types of devices, some including pen pressure dataand others not including pen pressure data, to derive radius and/oralpha (transparency/opacity) information as attributes of points formingeach stroke, to thereby generate the device-independent ink data 200.The ink data processing section 100T outputs the generated ink data 200in various formats such as in a file format (e.g., SFF) or a messageformat (e.g., SMF).

In the example of FIG. 50A, in case the input data includes pen pressuredata (when a result of step S1202 is TRUE), radius and transparencyinformation is derived from the pen pressure data, without using timinginformation, though the present invention is not limited to suchimplementation.

A function may be used, which receives timing information and penpressure data as input and outputs radius. In this case, it becomespossible to change the stroke width and/or stroke transparency based notonly on pen pressure data but also on the pen velocity.

While velocity was derived in various embodiments described above, whena pen includes an acceleration sensor for example or when only valuescorresponding to acceleration are obtainable, acceleration may be used.For example, by integrating acceleration to derive velocity, processingsimilar to that described above may be utilized.

FIG. 62 is a flow diagram illustrating another example of a processexecuted in the ink data generation section 120 of FIG. 49 to outputradius information as an ink data attribute, alternatively to the methoddescribed above in reference to FIG. 52.

In step S192, similarly to step S1202 of FIG. 50A, it is determinedwhether the inputted data includes pen pressure data or not.

In step S196, after it is determined in step S192 that the inputted datadoes not include pen pressure data (“FALSE”), radius is calculated usingthe relationship between velocity derived from timestamp information andradius, as explained in reference to FIG. 54 above. That is, therelationship is used in which, when velocity increases, radius isattenuated.

In step S194, after it is determined in step S192 that the inputted dataincludes pen pressure data (“TRUE”), both the inputted pressure data andtimestamp information are used to derive radius. Step S192 uses apartial differential function including two variables, wherein (i) whenvelocity increases radius decreases, in case the pen pressure is fixed,and (ii) when the pen pressure increases radius increases, in case thevelocity is fixed. Thus, it is possible to encode radius of each pointfor the ink data 200 based on both velocity and pen pressure of thepoint.

In step 198, the radius derived in step S196 or in step S194 isoutputted.

FIG. 63 is a flow diagram illustrating another example of a processexecuted in the ink data generation section 120 of FIG. 49 to outputvariable alpha information as an ink data attribute, alternatively tothe method described above in reference to FIG. 55.

In step S2002, similarly to step S1202 of FIG. 50A, it is determinedwhether the inputted data includes pen pressure data or not.

In step S2006, after it is determined in step S2002 that the inputteddata does not include pen pressure data (“FALSE”), alpha(transparency/opacity) is calculated using the relationship betweenvelocity derived from timestamp information and alpha, as explained inreference to FIG. 56 above. That is, the relationship is used in which,when velocity increases, alpha also increases (becomes moretransparent).

In step S2004, after it is determined in step S2002 that the inputteddata includes pen pressure data (“TRUE”), both the inputted pressuredata and timestamp information are used to derive a variable alphavalue. Step 2004 uses a partial differential function including twovariables, wherein (i) when velocity increases alpha increases (becomesmore transparent), in case the pen pressure is fixed, and (ii) when thepen pressure increases alpha decreases (becomes more opaque), in casethe velocity is fixed. Thus, it is possible to encode alpha(transparency) of each point for the stroke object 210 of the ink data200 based on both velocity and pen pressure of the point.

In step S2008, the alpha derived in step S2006 or in step S2004 isoutputted.

The processes of FIGS. 62 and 63 may be used together such that bothradius and alpha values may be derived from the inputted pressure dataand timestamp information. Alternatively, only the radius value or onlythe alpha value may be derived from the inputted pressure data andtimestamp information.

Sample functions that transform velocity (vn) to radius and alpha aredescribed above in reference to FIGS. 54 and 56. In general, whatfunctions should be used to transform velocity (vn) to radius and/oralpha depends on the type of pen (or pen tip type) and the type of“paper” that the sensor surface is supposed to simulate (e.g., Japanesepaper, carbon paper, regular paper, copy paper, photographic paper, inkabsorbing paper, etc.) Thus, any of the functions selected to transformvelocity to radius and/or alpha may be adjusted depending on the type ofpen and/or the type of paper. In other words, radius and/or alphaderived from velocity may change depending on the type of pen and/or thetype of paper.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, penpressure data utilized in various embodiments of the present inventionas described above may be replaced with other attribute values that maybe received from various types of input devices, such as pen angle (orpen tilt) data, pen rotation (pen roll) data, etc. These attributevalues, such as the pen angle/tilt data, may be used to derive radiusand/or transparency (alpha) information according to various embodimentsof the present invention, in place of the pen pressure data used in theabove-described examples. For example, some pen-type input devices arecapable of generating pen angle (pen tilt) data indicative of the angleformed by the pen axis relative to the sensor surface or to the normalto the sensor surface. It is observed that a pen held normal to thesensor surface tends to apply more pressure to the sensor surface than apen that is tilted to thereby extend in a direction more parallel to thesensor surface. Thus, the pen angle/tilt data may be correlated to aparameter vn (velocity) similarly to how the pen pressure data may becorrelated to vn.

For example, a function may be used which codifies a relationship inwhich the more straight (i.e., closer to the normal to the sensorsurface) the pen is held relative to the sensor surface (i.e., morepressure), the slower the velocity (vn) becomes. Once vn is derived fromthe angle/tilt data, the functions similar to those used to transform vnto radius and/or alpha information described above may be used. That is,the pen angle/tilt data may be correlated to vn, which is then convertedto radius and/or alpha information. On the other hand, it may also beobserved that a pen held normal to the sensor surface tends to produce anarrower stroke than a tilted pen that tends to produce (draw) a widerstroke, perhaps due to an increased contact area between the tilted pentip and the sensor surface. In this case suitable functions may be usedwhich codify such relationship, in which the more straight the pen isheld relative to the sensor surface, the faster the velocity (vn)becomes to produce a narrower stroke. Once vn is derived from theangle/tilt data, vn can then be converted to radius and/or alphainformation using the functions described above. What functions shouldbe used to transform the angle/tilt data to vn depends on the type ofpen (or pen tip type) and the type of “paper” that the sensor surface issupposed to simulate (e.g., Japanese paper, carbon paper, regular paper,copy paper, photographic paper, ink absorbing paper, etc.) It mayfurther be observed that a pen held normal to the sensor surface tendsto produce a wider and darker stroke than a tilted pen that tends toproduce a narrower and finer (more transparent) stroke. Then, withoutfirst correlating the angle/tilt data to vn and converting vn to radiusand/or alpha information for each point, suitable functions may be usedthat transform the pen angle/tilt data directly to radius and/or alphainformation in some embodiments. Similarly, in some embodiments,suitable functions may be used that transform the pen pressure data, ifavailable, directly to radius and/or alpha information instead of firstconverting the pressure data to vn and then converting vn to radiusand/or alpha information for each point.

[4] Ink Data Processing Section/Decoder (FIGS. 64-66)

FIG. 64 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between the ink dataprocessing section 100R and various applications 300-1,300-2, 300-n,according to embodiments of the present invention. Ink data processingsection 100R corresponds to 100R in FIG. 22 of the first embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 45, the ink data processing section 100R is essentiallya software library which, in response to requests from variousapplications 300, extracts the ink data 200 stored in a file or messageformat in a memory (“RAM”) or various types of media (e.g., HardDisk) toa memory location and in the data format usable by the applications. Forexample, when the application 300-1 is a drawing processing application(utilizing graphic processing section 300 in FIG. 5), the ink dataprocessing section 100R outputs to the graphic processing section 300necessary data objects “Stroke”, “Point”, etc. (wherein each strokeand/or point is associated with radius and/or alpha information), butdoes not output unnecessary data objects “Author”, etc. As anotherexample, when the application 300-2 requires only author information forthe purpose of determining e-conference participants, for example, theink data processing section 100R outputs data object Author in metadataobject 250. In embodiments of the present invention, the ink dataprocessing section 100R is realized as an ink data reproducing processS200 executed by a processor, as will be described in FIG. 65. Below,the ink data reproducing process S200 will be described in connectionwith a drawing process wherein the application 300 is a drawingapplication 300-1.

FIG. 65 is a flow diagram illustrating the ink data reproducing processS200 of reproducing (or extracting) generated ink data 200 to obtainradius and alpha information, as well as X and Y coordinate data, andoutputting the obtained information and data, in response to a requestfrom the drawing application 300-1, according to embodiments of thepresent invention. The drawing application 300-1 may then use the radiusand alpha information to give more realistic looks and nuancedexpressions to the strokes as drawn/rendered on a screen (see FIGS.68-72). Essentially, the ink data reproducing process S200 is a reverseprocess to the process of generating (formatting) the ink data S140described in reference to FIG. 57 above.

<Reproduction or Extraction of Data Object InkDataFile>

In step S2001, the context information (INPUT 2) (or configurationinformation) for the ink data 200 that includes the stroke to beprocessed is extracted, such as the decimalPrecision value. Thereproduction processing reversely corresponds to the encoding processingin step S1401 of FIG. 57.

In step S2002, the strokesCount value included in the data objectInkDataFile, as shown in FIG. 48L, is extracted. If the strokesCountvalue is not available, for example, in real-time type applications,step S2002 may be omitted and the process may instead determine when toend the processing by reproducing the data indicating the last of allstrokes included in the InkDataFile.

<Reproduction of Data Object “Stroke”>

The following steps starting with step S2003 included in a largerrectangle in dotted lines in FIG. 65 are performed for each of the N(strokesCount) number of strokes included in the InkDataFile. As aresult, N number of stroke objects are reproduced and outputted.

In step S2005, “variableAlpha” in the data object “stroke” (see FIG.48L) is extracted. As described above, the variable Alpha value(TRUE/FALSE) indicates whether the stroke being processed includes analpha value that is variable along the length of the stroke.

In step S2006, “pointsCountvalue,” which indicates the number of pointobjects included in the stroke object 210, is obtained. If thepointsCountvalue is not available, for example, in real-time typeapplications, step S2006 may be omitted and the process may insteaddetermine the end of processing by reproducing the data indicating theend of a stroke being processed.

<Reproduction of Data Object “Point”>

The following steps starting from step S2007 included in a smallerrectangle in dotted lines in FIG. 65 are performed for each of thepointsCount number of point objects included in the stroke object 210being reproduced. As a result, the pointsCount number of point objectsare reproduced and outputted.

In step S2009, it is determined whether alpha of the stroke beingprocessed is variable or not, i.e., it is determined whether “variableAlpha” is TRUE or not.

In step S2011, after it is determined in step S2009 that “variableAlpha”is TRUE, XY coordinate values as well as the radius and alpha values aredecoded and reproduced for the point and are outputted. The step is toreverse (convert) the data encoded in step S1411 of FIG. 57 back to adata format requested by (usable by) a particular application that isrequesting the reproduced ink data 200.

In step S2013, after it is determined in step S2009 that “variableAlpha”is FALSE, XY coordinate values and the radius value are decoded andreproduced for the point and are outputted, while the alpha value is setas a fixed value for the entire stroke, as will be more fully describedbelow in the lower portion of FIG. 66. The step is to reverse (convert)the data encoded in step S1413 of FIG. 57 back to a data formatrequested by (usable by) a particular application that is requesting thereproduced ink data 200.

Accordingly, the ink data reproducing process S200 extracts XYcoordinate values and the radius value, as well as the alpha value ifany, from data object “point.”

FIG. 66 illustrates an implementation example of steps S2011 and S2013of FIG. 65 described above, according to embodiments of the presentinvention.

Lines 01-07 in the upper portion of FIG. 66 are pseudocode correspondingto step S2011 of FIG. 65, when the XY coordinate values as well as boththe radius and alpha values are extracted for the point, in case thealpha value is variable along the length of the stroke including thepoint (i.e., different points forming the stroke may have differentalpha values).

Lines 08-14 in the lower portion of FIG. 66 are pseudocode correspondingto step S2013 of FIG. 65, when the XY coordinate values and the radiusvalue are extracted for the point while the alpha value is set as afixed value (e.g., “1.0” in the illustrated example), in case the alphavalue is not variable along the length of the stroke including the point(i.e., all points forming the stroke have the same alpha value).

In FIG. 66, the sections indicated by “A” and “B” show how the decimalPrecision value, described above, is utilized in implementations ofembodiments of the present invention. Specifically, using an inversefunction of the function shown in FIG. 58 above, in step S2011, input X,Y and radius and alpha data are first converted (cast) back from int(integer) to float (floating point number) data type, as shown in“INV_B” in FIG. 66. Thereafter the X, Y and radius data are divided bythe decimalPrecision value indicative of the resolution (magnification),as shown in “INV_A” in the upper portion of FIG. 66.

In step S2013 shown in the lower portion of FIG. 66, similarly to stepS2011, input X, Y and radius data are first cast to float (floatingpoint number) data type, and thereafter divided by the decimalPrecisionvalue. On the other hand, the alpha value is set as a fixed value, suchas “1.0” in the illustrated example.

Thus, when the application 300 is a drawing application, for example,which requires input data to be in “float” data type, the generated inkdata 200 including data in integer type are reproduced (decoded) back tothe requested floating point number data type, or any other non-integeroriginal data type as requested by the application 300.

[5] Ink Data Drawing Process (FIG. 67)

FIG. 67 is a flow diagram illustrating a drawing process S300-1 executedby the drawing application 300-1 (and graphic processing section 300 inFIG. 5), which utilizes the ink data 200 to draw (render) strokes on ascreen according to embodiments of the present invention.

In step S200, the process causes the ink data processing section 100R toobtain and reproduce InkDataFile to extract information regardingstrokes and points included in each stroke (e.g., radius and alphainformation), as described above, such that the extracted informationcan be used as input data for the drawing process S300-1.

Next, a drawing (rasterization) style object associated with the strokeobject 210 being processed is determined. As shown in FIG. 48B, the inkdata 200 is structured such that each stroke object 210 (in the strokemodel sub-domain) is associated with one or more drawing style objects(in the rasterization sub-domain) that define the appearance of thestroke object 210 when it is drawn (rendered, rasterized, etc.) on ascreen. While there are many types of drawing style objects, in theillustrated embodiment of FIG. 67, two options are available: ascattering style object and a shapefill style object (see FIG. 48).

When the scattering style object is selected, in sub-process S300-1S,first, a vertex (point) array is derived for each stroke wherein thevertex array consists of a set of sparsely located discrete points. Theprocess of deriving a vertex array uses attribute values generated byink data processing section 100, such as “spacing” and “range” values.The process of deriving a vertex array may also use the contextinformation (INPUT 2) received from an application or an operatingsystem. For example, contextual information about the paper type, whichthe screen is supposed to simulate (e.g., Japanese paper, carbon paper,regular paper, copy paper, photographic paper, ink absorbing paper,etc.) may be used to increase or decrease the number of sparsely locateddiscrete points in the vertex array. The generated vertex arrayrepresents a series of particles. In the illustrated embodiment, theGPU, which is controlling the drawing process S300-1S, applies a firstvertex shader to the generated vertex array to give a defined size toeach of the particles based on the “radius” value of each point. The GPUalso applies a first fragment shader to the array of particles to give adefined level of transparency (or opacity) to each of the particlesbased on the “alpha” value of each point. The drawing process S300-1Sthus draws the given stroke in the style of “scattering” particles (seeFIG. 48F).

When the shapefill style object is selected, in sub-process S300-1F,first, spline segments are derived for each stroke wherein each splinesegment is a sufficiently smooth polynomial function defined for aportion of the continuous stroke curve. That is, a set of splinesegments defines curve segments, which connect at vertexes to togetherrepresent the stroke. The GPU applies a second vertex shader to the setof spline segments to give a defined size to each of the circlescentered at the vertexes along the stroke based on the “radius” value ofeach vertex (point). The GPU also applies a second fragment shader tothe set of spline segments to give a defined level of transparency (oropacity) to each of the circles based on the “alpha” value of eachvertex (point). The drawing process S300-1F thus draws the given strokein the style of “shape filling” (see FIG. 48F).

[6] Effects: Ink Data Drawing Examples (FIGS. 68-72)

FIGS. 68-72 illustrate various drawing rendering examples, which areused to illustrate the effects of the ink data generating method, inkdata reproducing method, and ink data drawing (rendering) method,according to embodiments of the present invention. In FIGS. 68-72, “s”indicates a starting position of a stroke and “e” indicates an endingposition of the stroke. In all cases, it is assumed that the velocity ofpen movement is increasing (accelerating) from “s” toward “e.”

FIG. 68 illustrates drawing rendering examples resulting from input ofthe ink data generated based on the attenuate (damping) function of FIG.54, according to embodiments of the present invention. With theattenuate function, when velocity increases, radius decreases. Thus, inall of the drawing examples illustrated in FIG. 68, the width of astroke decreases from “s” toward “e.” In these examples, alpha(transparency) is set as a fixed value.

The rendering examples are in accordance with the observation describedabove, that line width that increases due to pen pressure corresponds tothe area into which ink seeps out in paper [Observation A] and that thefaster a pen moves the shorter time period the pen has to have ink seepout at each point [Observation B]. Even when a given pen event datainput does not include pressure information, the ink data processingsection according to embodiments of the present invention is capable ofobtaining velocity information for each point and calculating radiusinformation for each point based on the velocity information. Thegenerated ink data thus includes radius information for each of at leastsome of the points. When the ink data 200 is rendered (drawn) on ascreen, the radius information may be used to give the drawn stroke arealistic look and nuanced expressions that closely simulate theappearance of a real stroke in ink hand-drawn on paper.

FIG. 69 illustrates drawing rendering examples resulting from input ofthe ink data 200 generated based on the power function of FIG. 56,according to embodiments of the present invention. With the powerfunction, when velocity increases, alpha (transparency) increases. Thus,in all of the drawing examples illustrated in FIG. 69, the strokebecomes lighter and more transparent (i.e., the darkness decreases) from“s” toward “e.” In these examples, radius is set as a fixed value.

The rendering examples are in accordance with the observation describedabove, that ink darkness that increases due to pen pressure correspondsto the area into which ink seeps out in paper [Observation C] and thatthe faster a pen moves the smaller amount of ink seeps out from the penat each point (because the pen is in contact at each point for a shortertime period) [Observation D]. Even when a given pen event data inputdoes not include pressure information, the ink data processing sectionaccording to embodiments of the present invention is capable ofobtaining velocity information for each point and calculating alphainformation for each point based on the velocity information. Thegenerated ink data 200 thus includes alpha information for each of atleast some of the points. When the ink data 200 is rendered (drawn) on ascreen, the alpha information may be used to give the drawn stroke arealistic look and nuanced expressions that closely simulate theappearance of a real stroke in ink hand-drawn on paper.

FIG. 70 illustrates drawing rendering examples resulting from input ofthe ink data 200 generated based on both the attenuate function of FIG.54 and the power function of FIG. 56, according to embodiments of thepresent invention. With the attenuate function, when velocity increasesradius decreases, while with the power function, when velocity increasesalpha (transparency) increases. Thus, in all of the drawing examplesillustrated in FIG. 70, the width of a stroke decreases from “s” toward“e” while at the same time the stroke becomes lighter and moretransparent (i.e., the darkness decreases) from “s” toward “e.” Evenwhen a given pen event data input does not include pressure information,the ink data processing section according to embodiments of the presentinvention is capable of obtaining velocity information for each pointand calculating radius and alpha information for each point based on thevelocity information. The generated ink data 200 thus includes radiusand alpha information for each of at least some of the points. When theink data 200 is rendered (drawn) on a screen, the radius and alphainformation may be used to give the drawn stroke a realistic look andnuanced expressions that closely simulate the appearance of a realstroke in ink hand-drawn on paper.

FIG. 71 illustrates drawing rendering examples, which show effects ofother functions (sigmoid and periodic functions) of FIG. 54 as used instep S1207_07 of FIG. 52, for special types of pens such as a pen havinga particularly soft pen tip, according to embodiments of the presentinvention.

The drawing examples on the left-hand side result from the “SIGMOID”function of FIG. 54, in which attenuation occurs in steps, as opposed toexponentially as in the “attenuate” function. Thus, in each of theresulting drawn (rendered) strokes, the radius (width) of a stroke isdecreasing in steps, from a wider portion to a narrower portion, asopposed to decreasing gradually as in the examples of FIG. 68. In the“SIGMOID (INCR)” function of FIG. 56, increase occurs in steps, asopposed to the “SIGMOID (DECR)” function of FIG. 54, in whichattenuation occurs in steps. Thus, the drawing examples resulting fromthe “SIGMOID (INCR)” function of FIG. 56 have appearances similar tothose of the drawing examples on the left-hand side of FIG. 71, but withthe positions of “s” and “e” switched.

The drawing examples on the right-hand side of FIG. 71 result from the“PERIODIC” function of FIG. 54, in which the radius output changes(increases and decreases) periodically. Thus, in each of the resultingdrawn (rendered) strokes, the radius (width) of a stroke changesperiodically from “s” toward “e.”

FIG. 72 illustrates drawing rendering examples, which show effects ofusing special values as the radii of the beginning point(s) and endingpoint(s) added in step S1207_04 of FIG. 52, according to embodiments ofthe present invention.

Specifically, in step S1207_02 of FIG. 52, a special value is set as aradius for each of the beginning point(s) and ending point(s) added tothe beginning and ending of the stroke, respectively.

The left-hand side of FIG. 72 illustrates drawing examples when theradii of the beginning and ending points are set as zero (“0”). Thismeans that no matter how fast or slow a user is moving a pen at thebeginning or at the end of a stroke, the radius (width) of the beginningand ending points of the stroke is essentially ignored in the resultingdrawing.

The right-hand side of FIG. 72 illustrates drawing examples when theradii of the beginning and ending points are set larger than (e.g.,twice) the normally calculated radii, i.e., the radii that arecalculated according to various embodiments of the present inventionusing various functions as described above. As shown, this results inthe beginning and ending points of each stroke being accentuated,similarly to how, when a user draws a stroke with a pen on paper, thebeginning and ending points of each stroke often appear accentuated onpaper (because the pen is often paused at the beginning and ending of apen stroke).

As described above, according to the ink data processing section, inkdata generation method, ink data processing section, ink datareproduction method and ink data drawing method of various embodimentsof the present invention, device-independent ink data may be generatedand used to render (draw) strokes having realistic appearances. The inkdata 200 is structured such that it can be shared by various types ofdevices and applications, some supporting pressure data and others notsupporting pressure data. The ink data structure defines radius and/oralpha values for each of the points forming each stroke, and the radiusand/or alpha values can be used, in place of pressure data, to giverealistic appearances and nuanced expressions to the strokes drawn on ascreen which closely simulate the appearances of actual strokes in inkhand-drawn on paper.

Though in the above description, pressure is described mostly as penpressure applied by a pen, with respect to devices capable of obtaining(measuring) pressure applied by a finger, for example, pressure may meanfinger pressure. Thus, in the present description, the term “penpressure” is to be understood synonymously as “pressure,” and the term“pen” is to be understood synonymously as “indicator” which may includepens (styluses), fingers, and any other implements, equipment andelements that a user may utilize to indicate a position on an inputdevice.

Though in the above description, alpha is used to indicate the degree oftransparency (greater alpha means greater transparency), a parameterthat indicates the degree of opacity may also be used, such that agreater value of the parameter indicates a greater degree of opacity.

Though the ink data processing section is generally described as aseparate entity from various applications that request reproduced inkdata 200 from the ink data processing section, they may be jointly orintegrally formed based on connections via library links, for example.

Fourth Embodiment

A fourth embodiment of the present invention is directed to systems andmethods that receive pen event data which is based on a user's handdrawing motion and receive context information (INPUT 2) which isprovided by an application or an operating system supporting the handdrawing motion. The context information (INPUT 2) includes informationabout the pen event data, such as the type of pen, author ID, etc. Thesystems and methods generate ink data 200 including stroke objects 210,metadata objects 250, and drawing style objects 230, based on thereceived pen event data and the received context information (INPUT 2).The systems and methods may further receive a manipulation informationfrom the application or operating system supporting the hand drawingmotion and generate a manipulation object, which forms part of the inkdata, based on the received pen event data, the received contextinformation (INPUT 2), and the received manipulation information.

Background of the Fourth Embodiment

A framework is desired that will permit digitized hand-drawn input data,or “ink data,” to be shared among different operation systems, differentapplications, different services, different image formats, differentpre-existing standards of strokes, etc. In short, unification of strokedata models is desired.

Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) is one example of a successfulunifying framework. HTML has been widely adopted as a common language tomark up (1) “text,” which is essentially a set number of character codecombinations, with (2) meta tags that mark up how the text should becharacterized or described when displayed. For example, meta tagsindicate font size, color, column, row, group, table, etc., which arecommonly interpreted by different types of browsers to specify theappearance of text. Such common language allows for generation of adocument that can be displayed on different devices in differentcomputing environments in substantially the same manner (though theremay be some minor variations and differences due to each browserimplementation, for example).

The same is desired for hand-drawn input data. That is, a commonlanguage is desired that defines (1) “strokes” (or “traces” or “paths”inputted by a user's hand drawing motion), and (2) “objects” thatcharacterize or describe the “strokes” such as the strokes' color,texture, offset position, etc. Such common language (or informationmodel), hereinafter referred to as the “stroke language (SL),” willallow generation of a digital document that can be displayed ondifferent devices in different computing environments in substantiallythe same manner (the same appearance), though there may be some minorvariations and differences due to each rendering engine implementation,for example.

Some data structures configured to represent hand-drawn strokes in amanner sharable amongst different applications, such as InkML, ISF andJOT data structures, are known as described in Documents (D1), (D2) and(D5) above.

Briefly, InkML (D1) is provided for the purpose of representing inkinputted with an electronic pen or stylus by using a markup languagethat describes the inputted data. For example, InkML defines a datastructure for a stroke, wherein the data structure <trace> contains asequence of data generated by an input device, where the format of thisdata is specified in a separate data structure <traceformat> using anumber of <channel> elements.

ISF (D2) is provided for the purpose of storing ink data in a binaryform intended to be used in mobile devices like PDA, tablet PC andothers that are using a stylus as an input mechanism. For example, ISFdefines a data structure for a stroke, wherein the data structureTAG_STROKE contains a sequence of data generated by an input device,where the format of this data is specified in a separate data structureTAG_STROKE_DESC_BLOCK using various tags like TAG_NO_X, TAG_BUTTONS andothers. ISF involves compression encoding and is capable of generatingstatic (persistent) streams using the method of picking the mostsuitable compression technique for every data type. For example, theyuse combinations of delta encoding and tuned version of Huffmanalgorithm for input coordinates, pressure levels and otherstylus-generated data, and LZ algorithm for custom properties likecustom drawing attributes.

JOT (D5) is provided for the purpose of exchanging data inputted by anelectronic pen or stylus between different machines with variousoperating systems and architectures. For example, JOT defines a datastructure for a stroke, wherein the data structure tag_INK_POINTdescribes a single pen event and its characteristics such as itsposition, force (pressure), rotation, etc.

Also, different standards not limited to processing hand-drawn strokesexist for the purpose of describing vector graphics in aninput-independent manner. SVG 1.1 (D3) is one such example. Version 1.1of SVG includes a path element, which relies on lines and Bezier curvesfor the purpose of representing strokes.

Summary of the Fourth Embodiment

Embodiments of the present invention may be understood as addressing oneor more of three aspects, in particular ASPECT THREE.

Systems and methods are provided for generating, converting, andotherwise processing ink data 200 that is defined by a novel language(or information model), to achieve one or more aspects of the inventiondescribed above.

Embodiments of the invention are directed to outputting ink data 200including stroke objects, which are statically described by metadataobjects and/or dynamically controlled or manipulated by drawing styleobjects and manipulation objects. The stroke objects, metadata objects,drawing style objects and manipulation objects collectively form the inkdata 200, which may be stored in a recording format (e.g., a stroke fileformat (SFF)) or in a transmission format (e.g., a stroke message format(SMF)).

The stroke objects according to embodiments of the present invention mayhave variable stroke width (i.e., width that varies along the length ofa stroke) and variable stroke color or transparency (alpha)/opacity(i.e., color or transparency/opacity that varies along the length of astroke), as in the third embodiments described above. The stroke objectsaccording to embodiments of the present invention may be defined usingsuitable interpolation methods such as a Catmull-Rom spline method, anduse special parameters to describe the beginning and/or ending of anypartial stroke, as in the first embodiments described above.

Embodiments of the invention are directed to a method of generating inkdata 200 which, depending on a connection/coupling status with a remotehost, for example, is capable of dynamically manipulating remote(remotely located) stroke objects as well as dynamically manipulatinglocal stroke objects.

Description of the Fourth Embodiment

FIG. 73, is a diagram illustrating an overall system in which ink data200 is utilized, according to embodiments of the present invention. Ascompared to the system described in FIG. 1, the system of FIG. 73additionally includes a Server #2 supporting Application Service #2which is accessed by Device 10-1-2 and Device 10-1-3. ApplicationService #1 and Application Service #2 in FIG. 73 may both utilize andexchange the ink data 200 via the ink data exchange infrastructure 10.In FIG. 73, Device 10-1 is a pen-type input device capable of outputtingpen pressure data, and generates the ink data 200 using Application300-#1 provided by Application Service #1. Application 300-1 links aTCP/IP library and libraries for ink data processing section 100 andgraphic processing section 300 (not shown in figure) that implements anink data generation method of the present invention. The generated inkdata 200 may then be outputted in a suitable output form (e.g., inpackets) corresponding to the destination media (e.g., a network).

Device 10-1-2 is a tablet-type input device capable of receivinghand-drawn input made by a user's finger. The sensor of Device 10-1-2 isnot capable of outputting pen pressure data, but may still generate theink data 200 using Application 300-2 provided for Application Service#2. Application 300-2 links or utilizes libraries like the TCP/IP stackand libraries for ink data processing section 100 on Server #2 thatimplements an ink data generation method of the present invention. Thegenerated ink data 200 may then be outputted in a suitable output form(e.g., in packets) corresponding to the destination media (e.g., anetwork).

Device 10-3 is a desktop-type PC that subscribes to Application Service#2. Device 10-3 may process (e.g., render on its display screen orredistribute) the ink data 200 outputted from Device 10-1-1 or Device10-1-2, using Application 300-2 provided by Application Service #2.Application 300-2 dynamically links or utilizes libraries like theTPC/IP stack and libraries for ink data processing section 100 thatimplements an ink data reproduction method of the present invention.

FIG. 74 is a block diagram of an ink data processing section 100according to embodiments of the present invention. The ink dataprocessing section 100 corresponds to the ink data processing section100 shown in FIG. 6. The ink data processing section 100 may beimplemented as a library dynamically or statically linked to anapplication, such as a drawing application 300-1 utilizing graphicprocessing section 300 in FIG. 6. The ink data processing section 100includes an ink data generation section 120 and an ink data formattingsection 140. The ink data generation section 120 generallyinputs/includes/receives three types of information: 1) PenEvent typeinput information (“INPUT 1”), 2) Context information (“INPUT 2”), and3) manipulation information (“INPUT 3”).

INPUT 1:

“PenEvent type input data,” or simply input data or pen event data, isinputted from an OS, device driver, API for obtaining data from an inputdevice such as a pen tablet sensor. The input data may be from a varietyof input devices, as illustrated on the left hand side of FIG. 92. Theinput data is not limited to raw data from an input device, and mayinclude pen event data generated by processing raw data, such as InkMLand ISF data.

INPUT 2:

Context information indicates context that is used to support input ofthe PenEvent type input data described above. The context informationmay include, for example, date and time information regarding a stroke(e.g., when the stroke is inputted), pen type, pen color, pen ID, authorID, the resolution and sampling rate of an input device, etc., which areprovided by the application (Application 300-1) or the OS used togenerate the stroke.

INPUT 3:

A manipulation information is a command to indicate that the next stroketo be entered is to form a manipulation object used to manipulate apre-existing stroke object 210, instead of a normal stroke object 210.Such command may be entered by a user activation of a switch or buttonassociated with an input device, and is provided to the ink datageneration section 120 from the application 300-1. For example, when auser wishes to “slice” a pre-existing stroke object 210, the user issuesa manipulation information and makes a hand-drawing motion to slice thepre-existing object. In view of the manipulation information, the inkdata generation section 120 uses the user's slicing motion to slice thepre-existing stroke instead of drawing another stroke based on theuser's slicing motion.

The ink data generation section 120 inputs/receives these three types ofinformation (INPUT 1, INPUT 2 and INPUT 3) and generates a group ofobjects according to the definition of the stroke language (SL) as shownin FIG. 48B described above in reference to the third embodiments.

The ink data formatting section 140 is separate from the ink datalanguage handling section 120 that generates the ink data includingvarious objects. In FIG. 74, from below to above, i.e., in the outputdirection, a group of objects generated by the ink data generationsection 120 is inputted to the ink data formatting section 140, whichoutputs data in a “recording format” or in a “transmission format.” InFIG. 74, from above to below, i.e., in the input direction, data in arecording format or in a transmission format is inputted to the ink dataformatting section 140, which reproduces a group of objects and providesthe reproduced group of objects to the ink data generation section 120.In the following figures, SL means a stroke language (see FIG. 48B), SFFmeans a Stroke File Format which is one type of recording format, andSMF means a Stroke Message Format which is one type of transmissionformat.

FIG. 75 is a more detailed functional block diagram of the ink dataprocessing section of FIG. 74, according to various embodiments of theinvention. The ink data processing section 100 in this figurecorresponds to the ink data processing section 100 shown in FIG. 6

The ink data generation section 120 includes a stroke object 210handling section 122, a metadata object handling section 124, arendering (drawing style) object handling section 126 and a manipulationobject handling section 128.

The stroke object handling section 122 receives the PenEvent type inputdata as input (INPUT 1), and in reference to the context information(INPUT 2), generates stroke objects 210 that form the core of the strokelanguage. The metadata object handling section 124, based on thePenEvent type input data (INPUT 1) and the context information (INPUT2), generates a metadata object 250 that describes the stroke object210. A metadata object contains non-drawing related information aboutthe stroke object 210, such as date and time information, author ID andpen ID, which does not impact the appearance of the stroke object 210 asdrawn on a screen.

The rendering (drawing style) object handling section 126, based on thestroke object generated in the stroke object handling section 122 and inreference to the context information (INPUT 2), generates a drawingstyle object 230 that controls rendering (drawing) of the stroke object210 and defines how the stroke object 210 appears when rendered on ascreen.

The manipulation object handling section 128, upon receipt of amanipulation information (“INPUT 3” in FIG. 75), uses the next “stroke”received as INPUT 1 to generate a manipulation object 270 configured tomanipulate the state of a pre-existing stroke object 210 that may existlocally (“Local”) or remotely over a network (“Remote”).

Accordingly, the ink data generation section 120 generates a group ofobjects based on the stroke language, as shown in FIG. 48B, based on thethree types of input information (“INPUT 1,” “INPUT 2” and “INPUT 3” inFIG. 75).

The ink data formatting section 140 includes a recording format dataprocessing section 142 configured to output a file in a recording formatsuch as the SFF, InkML and JPEG formats, and an ink data communicationsection 144 configured to output a message in a transmission format suchas the SMF format. Data defined by the stroke language according todefinitions of these various formats are outputted, such as in an SFFstructure description file (schema file) (F142-1-1), an SVG structuredescription file (F142-2-1), and an SMF structure description file(F144-1). Thus, it becomes possible to generate and reproduce variousobjects pursuant to the stroke language, wherein the objects can beinputted and outputted in a variety of recording formats and/ortransmission formats. While the file ink data formatting section 140 asillustrated supports two recording formats, SFF and SVG, it may supportmore than two recording formats, or may support only one recordingformat when the application 300-1 does not need to support all possiblefile formats.

Output from the manipulation object handling section 128 (e.g.,manipulation object 270 in FIG. 75) may be arranged in an SMF messageand transmitted over a network to manipulate (e.g., slice) one or morepre-existing stroke objects that exist remotely.

<Methods of Generating Language Objects>

FIGS. 76-83B are functional block diagrams and flowcharts illustratingthe structure and operation of the stroke object handling section 122,the metadata object handling section 124, the rendering (drawing style)object handling section 126, and the manipulation object handlingsection 128, according to embodiments of the present invention.

<SM (Stroke Model): Apparatus/Method for Generating Stroke Obiect>

FIG. 76 is a functional block diagram of a stroke object handlingsection 122 of FIG. 75. The stroke object handling section 122 includesa stroke model processing section (122_1) which inputs pen event data(“INPUT 1”), or pen event type data such as inkML data, and whichoutputs point objects. Each point object includes x and y coordinates ofthe point and may also include radius and alpha values as attributes ofthe point, as described in reference to the third embodiments above,such that the outputted point object may be represented as (x, y,radius, alpha). The stroke object handling section 122 includes a modelgenerating section (122_2), which receives context information (“INPUT2”) and prepares a configuration to be outputted to the stroke modelprocessing section (122_1) for use in generating point objects. Thestroke object handling section 122 further includes a stroke modelbuilder section (122_3), which assembles the generated point objectsthat together form a stroke into a stroke object 210. The stroke objecthandling section 122 thus outputs a plurality of generated strokeobjects.

FIG. 77A is a flowchart illustrating a process of generating a strokeobject 210. In S122_1 the model generating section 122_2 processes thecontext information (“INPUT 2”) to extract parameters, such as inputrate, used to define a configuration. In S122_6, the definedconfiguration is loaded to the stroke model processing section 122_1 andused to generate point objects. If the configuration directs the strokemodel processing section 122_1 to apply smoothing, then in S122_2 thestroke model processing section 122_1 applies smoothing to the array ofpoints to generate smoothed point objects. For example, a doubleexponential smoothing algorithm may be used, which may be configuredwith a suitable window size, smoothing data factor, and trend smoothingfactor. If the configuration directs that no smoothing is to be applied,S122_2 is skipped. If the configuration directs the stroke modelprocessing section 122_1 to generate additional points, then in S122_3the stroke model processing section 122_1 generates additional pointsand appends them to the beginning and/or the ending of a stroke. Thesteps like S_122_2 and S_122_3 are executed before S122_7 depending onthe context information processed in the model generating section 122_2.As another example, position values of the point objects that form astroke object 210 may depend on the interpolation method (e.g., aCatmull-Rom spline method) specified in the configuration loaded inS122_6. In step S122_7 the stroke model building section 122_3 assemblesthe generated point objects to form a new stroke object 210 or update apre-existing stroke object 210.

FIG. 77B describes a detailed algorithm of S122_3 of FIG. 77A, whereinadditional points are generated and appended to the beginning and/or theending of a stroke. As shown, depending on the phase of the point beingprocessed, a different algorithm can be executed. Phase of a pointindicates a position of the point relative to a stroke to which thepoint belongs. For example, if the phase is “begin” indicating that thepoint is a beginning point of a stroke (“end” is analogous, indicatingan ending point of a stroke), then in S122_4 (S122_5 for “end” phase)one or more (e.g., 3) points are generated and appended to form thebeginning (ending) of the stroke. Similar to S122_7 in FIG. 77A,position values of the point objects generated and added in S122_4(S122_5) may depend on the interpolation method (e.g., a Catmull-Romspline method) specified in the configuration loaded in S122_6. If thephase is “middle,” indicating that the point is in the middle section ofa stroke, then no additional points are generated for that point.

<MD (MetaData): Apparatus/Method for Generating Metadata Obiect>

FIG. 78 is a functional block diagram of a metadata object handlingsection 124 of FIG. 75. The metadata object handling section 124includes a metadata generating section 124-1, which receives contextinformation (“INPUT 2”) and extracts metadata therefrom such as authorID, location, etc. At least some of such metadata is arranged into aconfiguration and sent to a metadata processing section 124_2, whichprocesses a stroke object 210 received from the stroke object handlingsection 122 pursuant to the configuration. A metadata object 250 is tobe generated to describe the received stroke object 210. The metadataprocessing section 124_2 extracts metadata, such as time information,from the received stroke object 210 and sends the extracted metadata toa metadata building section 124_3. The metadata generating section 124_1also sends static configuration(s) extracted from the contextinformation to the metadata building section 124_3. Typically, a staticconfiguration is common for an entire drawing. The metadata buildingsection 124_3 builds a metadata object 250 based on the metadatareceived from the metadata generating section 124_1 and the metadataprocessing section 124_2.

FIG. 79 is a flowchart illustrating a process of generating a metadataobject 250. In S124_1 the metadata generating section 124_1 and themetadata processing section 124_2 extract metadata from their respectiveinput, such as pen ID, timestamp, etc. In S124_2, the extracted metadataas application context information is loaded to the metadata buildingsection 124_3. In S124_3, the phase of the point being processed isdetermined. If the point is a beginning point of a stroke object 210,then a metadata object 250 is generated and associated with the point.Since typically only one metadata object 250 is needed per stroke object210, a metadata object 250 need not be generated and associated with therest of the points other than the beginning point.

<R (Rasterization): Apparatus/Method for Generating Rendering (DrawingStyle) Object>

FIG. 80 is a functional block diagram of a rendering (drawing style)object handling section 126 of FIG. 75. The rendering object handlingsection 126 includes a style generating section 126_1, which receivescontext information (“INPUT 2”) and extracts information such as min/maxradius information, min/max velocity information, min/max pressureinformation, color information, etc. At least some of such informationis arranged into a configuration and sent to a style processing section126_2, which processes a stroke object 210 received from the strokeobject handling section 122 pursuant to the configuration. A drawingstyle object 230 is to be generated to define how to draw (render) thereceived stroke object 210. The style processing section 126_2 extractsstyle related parameters, such as (variable) radius, (variable) color,(variable) alpha (transparency) and anti-aliasing parameters, from thereceived stroke object 210 and the configuration and sends the extractedinformation to a style building section 126_3. The style generatingsection 126_1 also sends static configuration(s) extracted from thecontext information to the style building section 126_3. Typically, astatic configuration is common for an entire drawing. For example, ifall strokes in a drawing have the same composition blending mode, themode value is a static configuration.

FIG. 81 is a flowchart illustrating a process of generating a styleobject. In step S126_1, the style processing section 126_2 determinesinput characteristics, such as pressure data, timestamp data, positiondata, etc. based on the stroke object 210 and the context informationavailable from the application. In S126_2 a suitable configuration isloaded depending on the characteristics determined in step S126_1. Forexample, if a selected tool in the application is a ballpoint pen andthe input characteristics contain pressure data, then a configurationfor a pressure-based ballpoint pen is loaded. As another example, if aselected tool is a ballpoint pen and the input characteristics do notcontain pressure data but include a timestamp, then a configuration fora velocity-based ballpoint pen is loaded (because velocity can bederived from timestamp information). In step S126_3 the loadedconfiguration is examined to determine whether width (or color) isvariable or not. Then in step S126_4 it is determined whether width (orcolor) is variable per point, meaning that a stroke can have width orcolor that varies along its length. If “yes,” then in S126_5 a cascadingstyle property radius (and/or color) is generated per each point object.Otherwise in S126_6a cascading style property is generated for thestroke object 210.

Another example for optional cascading property is a build up property.Build up property is used to simulate an extra ink spillage when theinput device is in both static position and down state. A real worldanalogy for this property is the behavior of a watercolor brush on asoft paper. When the watercolor brush is in a static position, the softpaper soaks in paint and therefore the contact point becomes darker andbigger. In step S126_7 a build up property is generated for each pointobject if the inputted stroke object 210 satisfies the build upconditions specified by the configuration loaded in S126_2. For exampleif a user does not produce any movement in the down state and a build upalgorithm is activated in the loaded configuration, then in step S126_7the current (last-generated) point is duplicated or updated, to increasethe points density in this particular position.

Other steps similar to the previously described steps may be executedbefore S126_8 depending on the loaded configuration in S126_2. In stepS126_8, a style object is generated. All of the cascading styleproperties updated in steps S126_5, S126_6 and S126_7 and others areassembled into a style object in S126_8.

<M (Manipulation): Apparatus/Method for Generating Manipulation Obiect>

FIG. 82 is a functional block diagram of a manipulation object handlingsection 128 of FIG. 75. The manipulation object handling section 128includes a manipulator generation section 128_1, which receives andprocesses context information (“INPUT 2”) to prepare a configuration foruse by a manipulation processor 128_2. The manipulation processorsection 128_2 processes pen event data (“INPUT 1”) in reference to theconfiguration received from the manipulator generation section 128_1 andalso in reference to a manipulation information (“INPUT 3”) receivedfrom the application, to thereby generate a manipulation entity, such asa slice entity. A manipulation builder 128_3 receives the manipulationentity, such as the slice entity, and builds a manipulation object, suchas a slice object 274. A manipulation object is configured to execute adefined operation on a pre-existing stroke object 210. For example, aslice object 274 is used to slice a pre-existing stroke object 210 intotwo slice pieces. A collection of manipulation (e.g., slice) objectsgenerated by the manipulation builder 128_3 may be sent over a networkto be executed on pre-existing stroke object(s) that exist remotely, ormay be executed locally on pre-existing stroke object(s) generated andstored in the stroke object handling section 122. As illustrated, themanipulation processor 128_2 may also receive stroke object(s) from thestroke object handling section 122, based on which to generatemanipulation entities.

FIG. 83A is a flowchart illustrating a process of generating amanipulation object. In step S128_1 input characteristics, such aspressure, position, and timestamp information, are extracted from INPUT1 and INPUT, and also a manipulation information (INPUT 3) is received.In step S128_2, a suitable configuration is loaded, wherein theconfiguration is determined from the extracted input characteristics andapplication context information (“INPUT 2”). In step S128_3, new inputis processed according to the loaded configuration and to form amanipulation object. For example, if the new input is a polygon shape,the polygon shape defines a manipulation region. For example, if amanipulation object to be generated is a lasso tool, the polygon shapedefines the scope of the lasso tool. In S128_4 one pre-existing strokeobject 210 is selected out of plural pre-existing stroke objects, and inS128_5, any intersections between the selected pre-existing strokeobject 210 and the manipulation region (e.g., the polygon shape) arecalculated. If no intersections are found in S128-7, anotherpre-existing stroke object 210 is selected and steps S128_4, S128_5 andS128_6 are repeated until at least one intersection with onepre-existing stroke is found. When an intersection between apre-existing stroke object 210 and the manipulation region is found, inS128-7, a slicing manipulation object is generated, which is configuredto “slice” the pre-existing stroke object 210 at the intersection. InS128_14 it is determined if there are more pre-existing stroke objectswith which the manipulation region may intersect. If “yes,” the processreturns to step S128_4. If all of the pre-existing stroke objects arechecked for their intersections with the manipulation region, in S128_15the generated slice object(s) are assembled into a collection of sliceobject(s).

FIG. 83B is a flow chart illustrating a process of generating a sliceobject. In S128_8 the configuration loaded in S128_2 is used todetermine “manipulation accuracy.” If the manipulation accuracy is“whole stroke,” then in S128_9 a slice object 274 is generated, whichslices a pre-existing stroke object 210 to generate two slice pieceswherein each of the pieces is defined by a sub-set of the original pointobjects forming the pre-existing stroke object 210. In other words, evenwhen the intersection with the manipulation region lies between twoadjacent point objects of the pre-existing stroke object 210, the exactlocation of the intersection is not used to define the two slice pieces.

If the manipulation accuracy is “exact point,” in S128_10, theintersected (curve) segment between two adjacent point objects is found,wherein the intersected segment is where the manipulation regionintersects the pre-existing stroke object 210. One or more intersectedsegments are found. In S128_11 each of the intersected segments isprocessed to find the exact location of the intersection using aninterpolation method, for example. In S128_12, for each intersectedsegment, two slice pieces are generated, each having the exact locationof the intersection as an ending position or a starting position. InS128_13 the generated slice pieces are updated to respectively becomenew stroke objects, and each of the newly created stroke objects isassociated with a metadata object 250 and a drawing style object 230.

As described above, the ink data processing section 100 and itsassociated method generate stroke objects as well as objects associatedwith the stroke objects 210, including metadata objects 250,rasterization drawing style objects 230, and manipulation objects 270.

Configuration and operation of the ink data formatting section 140 arenow described in detail in reference to FIGS. 84-90C.

FIG. 84 is a functional block diagram of the ink data formatting section140 of FIG. 75. As described above in reference to FIG. 75, the ink dataformatting section 140 includes a recording format data processingsection 142 that outputs a file in a recording format such as the SFF,InkML and JPEG formats, and an ink data communication section 144 thatoutputs various objects (stroke objects 210, metadata objects 250,drawing style objects 230 and manipulation objects 270) in atransmission format. Thus, it is possible to generate and reproducevarious objects pursuant to the stroke language, which can be inputtedand outputted in a variety of recording formats and/or transmissionformats.

The recording format data processing section 142 is configured toarrange stroke objects, metadata objects and drawing style objects in arecording format. Sub-sections 142-1, 142-2, et seq. are processingsections configured to arrange objects pursuant to respective outputfile formats.

The ink data communication section 144 arranges manipulation objects,such as slice objects 274, in a stroke message format suitable for (realtime) transmission over a network to a remote device. A manipulationobject arranged in a transmission format can be executed on anypre-existing stroke objects that exist locally or that may existremotely over a network.

FIG. 85 is a flowchart illustrating a process performed in the ink dataformatting section 140. First, it is determined whether an object needsto be transmitted. The determination may be made based on whether astroke object 210, which is locally structured at the present time, isshared with any remote terminal. If yes, in step S144, the object isarranged in a Stroke Message Format (SMF) to be transmitted over anetwork. If, on the other hand, it is determined that the object is notto be transmitted, the object is arranged in a suitable recording formatselected from a plurality of recording formats. If a Stroke File Format(SFF) is to be used as an output format, in step S142-1 an SFFgeneration process is performed. If other formats such as the SVG andJPEG formats are to be used, in step S142-2, for example, an SVGgeneration process is performed to output an SVG format file thatincludes the stroke language information based on expansion of SVG.

FIG. 86 is a flowchart illustrating a process of outputting a strokefile format (SFF) data. In S142-1-1, an SFF structure description file(F142-1-1) is parsed to generate an SFF structure. The SFF structure isdescribed using an interface description language. Each softwareapplication that uses SFF needs to understand (parse) the descriptionfile in order to properly work with SFF data. For example, if the SFFstructure is expressed using the Protocol Buffers IDL then stub classesgenerated by a Protocol Buffers compiler are loaded in S142-1-1. InS142-1-2, the SFF structure is filled in with various objects generatedin the ink data generation section 120 of FIG. 75. In S142-1-3 the SFFstructure is processed using various techniques for optimal memoryrepresentation of abstract data types, such as a variable integerencoding technique and an exponential-Golomb code technique. InS142-1-4, the generated memory representation of the SFF structure ispacked into a memory stream. The generated memory stream may be saved ina file system or a file structure.

S142-1-2 may include multiple steps for appropriately filling the SFFdata structure. For each stroke object 210 included in the ink databeing processed (S142-1-5) and for each point object included in thestroke object 210 being processed (S142-1-6), it is determined whether acompression operation is to be performed. If “yes,” in S142-1-7 allfloating-point values are converted to fixed-point precision values andrepresented as integers. Any loss of precision can be compensated for inthe stroke object handling section 122 or in the rendering objecthandling section 126 by rounding point object floating-point values tothe desired precision. In S142-1-8 a compression algorithm, such asdelta encoding, is applied to the generated integer values. In S142-1-9,the objects that have undergone the compression process, if compressionis applied, are used to fill the SFF structure.

FIG. 87 is a flowchart illustrating a process of outputting JPEG formatdata. For each stroke object 210 included in the ink data beingprocessed (S142-2-1), in S142-2-2 all drawing style objects that arelinked with the stroke object 210 are retrieved and all rasterization(drawing) properties defined in the drawing style objects are loaded(e.g., mixing and texture properties). At this time all cascadingvalues, such as color and radius values, are resolved. In S142-2-3geometry of the stroke is generated using a CPU or GPU. In S142-2-3 thestroke is rasterized (drawn) by applying all rasterization/graphicalinformation on the generated geometry, such as color, texture, etc.,using a CPU or GPU. In S142-2-5 all rasterized strokes are composedtogether. In S142-2-6 a bitmap is generated that contains all of thestroke objects as rendered (drawn, rasterized). In S142-2-7 the bitmapdata is compressed using a JPEG algorithm.

FIG. 88 is a flowchart illustrating a process of outputting a strokemessaging format (SMF) data. In S144-1 an object is received from one ofthe object handling sections 122, 124, 126 or 128 of FIG. 75. In S144-2the object type is determined as a stroke object 210, a metadata object250, a drawing style object 230, or a manipulation object. In S144-3 anidentifier (e.g., a stroke ID, a style ID) is assigned to the object toindicate a connection between the object and the rest of the objects inthe ink data 200 being processed. In S144-4 an SMF structure descriptionfile (F144-4) is parsed and the SMF structure corresponding to thedetermined object type is loaded. For example, if the SMF structure isexpressed using the Protocol Buffers IDL, then stub class generated by aProtocol Buffers compiler are loaded. In S144-5, it is determinedwhether a compression operation is to be performed on the determinedobject. If “yes,” in S144-6 all floating-point values (e.g., x, y,radius, opacity, transparency) are converted to fixed-point precisionvalues and represented as integers. In S144-7 a compression algorithm,such as delta encoding, is applied to the generated integer values. InS144-8, the objects that have undergone the compression process, ifcompression is applied, are used to fill the SMF structure. In S144-9the SMF data is saved into a memory stream.

FIG. 89 is a functional block diagram that explains input processing ofdata (SFF/JPEG and SMF) that have been outputted in various file formatsand transmission formats.

In FIG. 89, an ink data output handling section 140T illustrated on theleft hand side performs the output processing described above. The inkdata 200 is outputted in a recording format such as the SFF format andthe JPEG format, or in a transmission format such as the SMF format.

These files and/or messages outputted in various formats may then beinputted (received) by an ink data input handling section 140Rillustrated on the right hand side of FIG. 89. In various embodiments,the ink data input processing and the ink data output processing arecarried out in the same processing section(s) that share the samelibraries, such as in the same sub-section 142-1 (both IN and OUT) andsub-section 142-2 (both IN and OUT).

The recording format data processing section 142 in the ink data inputhandling section 140R removes format-dependent data from the inputteddata, extracts information regarding the ink data objects of varioustypes, and outputs the extracted information regarding the ink dataobjects to the ink data generation section 120 on the receiving side.

The ink data communication section 144R in the ink data input handlingsection 140R extracts manipulation objects from the received packets ormessages, and directs each extracted manipulation operation to beexecuted (applied) to pre-existing stroke objects in the ink datageneration section 120 on the receiving side.

FIG. 90A is a flowchart of a process to interpret and reproduce anobject arranged in an SFF file. In S142-1(IN)-1, an SFF structuredescription file is parsed to generate an SFF structure. In S142-1(IN)-2the SFF structure is unpacked. One or more SFF structures are unpacked,and for each of the unpacked SFF structures (S142-1(IN)-3), it isdetermined whether the unpacked SFF structure is compressed. If “yes,”in S142-1(IN)-4, the unpacked SFF structure is decompressed, and inS142-1(IN)-5, decompressed fixed-point values represented as integersare converted back to floating-point representation. In S142-1(IN)-6, acorresponding Strokes Language object is created (e.g., a stroke object210, drawing style object 230, metadata object 250).

FIG. 90B is a flowchart of a process to interpret and reproduce anobject based on input in InkML. In S142-2(IN)-1, an InkML file is parsedand loaded in memory. In S142-2(IN)-2 trace objects are converted topointer input event samples. This process involves extracting inputdata, such as position, pressure, angle, tilt and timestamp data, andmodeling the extracted input data into a pointer input event sequence.In step S142-2(IN)-3 the pointer input event sequence is passed to thestroke object handling section 122, which also receives contextinformation based on the data contained in the InkML file (e.g., ifthere is a pressure channel or not). The stroke object handling section122 generates stroke objects. In step S142-2(IN)-5, the metadata objecthandling section 124 generates metadata objects. In step S142-2(IN)-4,the rasterization (drawing style) object handling section 126 generatesdrawing style objects.

FIG. 90C is a flowchart illustrating a process of receiving andexecuting a manipulation (slice) object in SMF. In S144-1 a collectionof slice objects 274 in SMF are received. In S144-2 slice objects 274are unpacked. In S144-3 pre-existing stroke objects are traversed tolocate the stroke objects affected by the slice objects 274 unpacked inS144-2. In S144-4 the affected stroke objects are traversed. In S144-5every affected stroke object 210 is modified (sliced) using thecorresponding slice object. All point objects within the point rangespecified in the corresponding slice object are removed (erased). InS144-6 one or two new stroke objects are created, if desired. Forexample, if the removed point objects are in the middle of a strokeobject 210 that is sliced, then the beginning portion of the originalstroke object 210 may form a new stroke object 210 and the endingportion of the original stroke object 210 may form another new strokeobject 210. In S144-8 the slice object is examined to determine whetherthe style properties of the affected stroke should be modified or not.If the style properties should be modified, S144-9 sets new styleproperty values for the newly created stroke object(s). Otherwise S144-7simply copies the style property values of the original stroke object210 onto the newly created stroke object(s). The same process is appliedfor metadata. If the metadata should be modified, then S144-11 appliesnew metadata to the newly generated stroke objects. Otherwise S144-10simply copies the metadata of the original stroke object 210 onto thenewly created stroke object(s). In S144-12 the values of startParameter301 and endParameter 303 of the original stroke object 210 may be copiedonto the newly created stroke object(s). The process described above isrepeated for all of the affected stroke objects. In S144-13 a check isperformed to determine whether there is a need to redraw the currentscreen. If “yes,” in S144-14 the stroke objects in a modified regionthat have been sliced by one or more of the slice objects 274 are drawn(rendered) on the screen.

Effects of Embodiments 1-4

FIG. 91 is a diagram explaining the effect of using an ink data 200processing device (101) of FIG. 75 to address ASPECT ONE describedabove. Manipulation objects according to various embodiments of thepresent invention permit transmission of manipulation operation contentsusing a transmission format, to thereby readily synchronize the statesof the stroke objects situated at multiple locations. For example,assume that one device on the left hand side and two devices on theright hand side of FIG. 91 (respectively corresponding to Devices10-1-1, 10-1-2, 10-1-3 in FIG. 1 and FIG. 73) are executing a real-timecollaboration application. Assume further that the devices are sharing astroke object 210 to be processed, which has not been sliced yet. Then,the following operation is possible according to embodiments of thepresent invention.

-   -   1. First, the device on the left hand side performs a slice        manipulation operation on the stroke object 210 having a defined        stroke width WIDTH.    -   2. Next, the ink data 200 processing device 101 (the        manipulation object handling section 128) generates a        manipulation object based on the slice manipulation operation.    -   3. Next, the ink data processing device 101 modifies its local        stroke object 210 by performing the slice manipulation operation        on the local stroke object 210 (see “Local” arrow in FIG. 75).        This process may be performed prior to or in parallel with step        2 above.    -   4. Next, the ink data processing device 101 (the ink data        communication section 144) formats the manipulation object in an        SMF data and transmits the SMF data to a network (see “Remote”        arrow in FIG. 75).    -   5. Devices 10-1-2 and 10-3 that receive the manipulation object        in the SMF data extract the stroke IDs associated with the        manipulation object, and perform the manipulation operation        (slice operation) on each of the stroke objects identified by        the extracted stroke IDs. As a result, the (sliced) states of        the stroke objects identified by the extracted stroke IDs are        synchronized among Device #1 on the left hand side and Devices        10-1-2 and 10-3 on the right hand side.

Therefore, the ink data processing method according to embodiments ofthe present invention is capable of manipulating stroke datadynamically, both locally and remotely across a network between tworemotely located devices, in real time or at different times.

FIG. 92 is a diagram explaining the effect of using an ink dataprocessing device (101) of FIG. 75 to address ASPECT TWO describedabove.

The left hand side of FIG. 92 shows device-dependent raw data on theinput side, and the right hand side of FIG. 92 shows data to be includedin output files as final products. The left hand side shows four typesof input data that can be used to generate strokes, as follows:

-   -   1. A sequence of point coordinates obtained by Type 1 device,        i.e., a simpler device such as a device incorporating a        capacitive type touch sensor.    -   2. A sequence of point coordinates as well as a sequence of pen        pressure information obtained by Type 2 device capable of        obtaining pen pressure information.    -   3. Type N data including various details such as pen rotation        angles, pen pressure, X-direction pen tilt angle, Y-direction        pen tilt angle, etc., as obtainable by a combination of        professional-grade hardware and an application used to generate        computer graphics, for example.    -   4. Standardized data, such as InkML, which may represent        azimuth, elevation, and pen orientation information.

As described above in reference to ASPECT TWO, in general, theinformation that needs to be reproduced based on hand-drawn input datais not “how” the hand-drawn data was inputted, such as at what angle apen (stylus) was held and how much pen pressure was applied, etc.Rather, the information that needs to be reproduced is the “result” ofsuch pen operation, which includes one or more strokes that weregenerated by the pen operation. Thus, it is desirable to use a strokemodel that makes the hand-drawn input data as abstract and generalizedas possible, i.e., that processes the hand-drawn input data to theright-hand side of FIG. 92 as much as possible. Such stroke model canthen absorb differences that may exist among different devices, whichrecord the “how” in various specific (non-abstract) manners.

The far right-hand side of FIG. 92 shows the data structure or fileformat included in image files as final products of the ink dataprocessing according to embodiments of the present invention. The middleportion of FIG. 92 shows intermediate vector data, which may result fromthe ink data 200 processing according to embodiments of the presentinvention, suitable for use in various applications such as textizing,signature verification, annotation and real-time collaborationapplications. The intermediate vector data includes the pre-existing SVGdata (D3) that defines vector graphics in an input-independent manner,i.e., in a manner not oriented to pen-input. As such, SVG does notreadily permit varying or adjusting pen-oriented data such as strokewidth, stroke color, and stroke transparency and, as a result, is notparticularly suited for marking up (characterizing) stroke data. On theother hand, the Stroke Language (SL) based intermediate vector dataaccording to embodiments of the present invention provides variousobjects, such as metadata objects, rendering objects and manipulationobjects, which are configured to mark up, characterize, or operate onstroke objects derived from the raw input data.

FIG. 93 is a diagram explaining the effect of using an ink dataprocessing device (101) of FIG. 75 to address ASPECT THREE describedabove. The provision of the common stroke language (or the commoninformation model that defines the language semantics and syntax), whichis not tied to a specific format but may be used with a variety offormats, permits extending the life cycle of an ink data ecosystem. InFIG. 93, 100-1, 100-2 . . . 100-N represent different applications inwhich the ink data processing method according to embodiments of thepresent invention is embedded. When raw “input data” is inputted to theapplication 100-1 (“STEP1” in FIG. 93), the ink data generation section120 of the application 100-1 abstracts the raw input data into objectsin the stroke language (or the information model defining the strokelanguage). The objects are then converted to a recording format or atransmission format (“first format,” or SVG in the illustrated example)and outputted (“STEP2” in FIG. 93). The application 100-2 receives andinterprets the data in SVG to extract the objects in the stroke languagefor rendering or manipulation. The application 100-2 may format theobjects in another recording format or a transmission format (“secondformat,” or SFF in “STEP3-2” of FIG. 93). The data in SFF is thenoutputted to be received by an application 100-N, which interprets thedata in SFF to extract the objects in the stroke language for renderingor manipulation. The application 100-N may format the objects in yetanother recording format or a transmission format (“third format,” orBitmap) to be outputted. Thus, as compared to the JOT in (D5) forexample which processes an ink data structure using a single format,embodiments of the present invention are capable of processing the inkdata in a variety of formats, thereby extending the life cycle of theink data 200. In the illustrated example of FIG. 93, the ink data 200 isusable by the application 100-1, by the application 100-2, and byfurther applications including the last application 100-N.

It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that each of theelements, devices, steps and processes described above may be combinedwith other elements, devices, steps and processes, or may be furtherdivided into sub-elements, sub-devices, sub-steps and sub-processes,depending on each implementation and application. Still further, thesteps and processes may be executed in a single processor, or may bedistributedly executed in multiple processors, depending on eachimplementation and application.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method implemented by a transmissiondevice to communicate with multiple reception devices that respectivelyshare a drawing area with the transmission device, wherein thetransmission device transmits to the multiple reception devicesvector-data ink data representative of traces of input operationdetected by an input sensor of the transmission device, the methodcomprising: (a) an ink data generation step that comprises: (i)continuously inputting pen even data (INPUT 1) generated according tomovement of a pointer, and generating fragmented data of a strokeobject, wherein the stroke object contains multiple point objects torepresent a trace of said movement of the pointer, the fragmented databeing generated in units of T, wherein T is a defined unit used tofragment data to generate the fragmented data, and (ii) generating adrawing style object, which defines a rendering configuration to beapplied to the whole of said trace of the stroke object based on contextinformation (INPUT 2), at a pen down time corresponding to generation ofthe pen event data at a beginning point of said trace; (b) a messageformation step that comprises: (i) generating a first message thatincludes the drawing style object, and (ii) generating one or moresecond messages subsequent to the first message, the one or more secondmessages including the fragmented data to be rendered with the renderingconfiguration defined by the drawing style object in the first message;and (c) a transmission step of transmitting the first message includingthe drawing style object and the one or more second messages in sequenceaccording to a defined communications protocol, wherein the transmissionstep starts transmitting the first message at the pen down time.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the defined unit T is selected from a groupconsisting of a unit time and a unit data size.
 3. The method of claim1, wherein said rendering configuration of the trace of the movement ofthe pointer is selected from a group consisting of a color of the trace,opacity of the trace, transparency of the trace, width of the trace, andtexture of the trace.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein in step (b)(i)the first message includes the drawing style object and at least a firstfragmented data, and in step (b)(ii) the second message includes thefragmented data generated subsequent to the at least first fragmenteddata included in the first message and does not include the drawingstyle object.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein step (a)(ii) ofgenerating the drawing style object is triggered by a pen down eventwhich comprises inputting of the pen event data at the beginning pointof said trace.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the ink data generationstep of (a) further comprises (iii) generating a metadata object at apen up time corresponding to generation of the pen event data at anending point of said trace, and the message formation step of (b)further comprises (iii) including the metadata object in a last one ofthe one or more second messages.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein thefirst message including the drawing style object is configured torequest updating of the drawing area.
 8. The method of claim 7, whereinthe message formation step of (b) further comprises (iv) when receivinga message indicating that said request for updating of the drawing areawas rejected, aborting transmission of the one or more second messages.9. The method of claim 1, wherein the defined unit T is smaller than aunit corresponding to said trace and is greater than a minimum unit thatcan be processed to draw a curve segment by interpolating point objectsincluded in the fragmented data.
 10. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising (d) a negotiation step, to be performed prior to the messageformation step of (b), the negotiation step of (d) comprisingdetermining a communications parameter value, which becomes a basis fordetermining said defined unit T of the fragmented data.
 11. The methodof claim 10, wherein said communications parameter value determineswhether said defined unit T of the fragmented data equals, or is smallerthan, a unit corresponding to said trace.
 12. The method of claim 11,wherein the message formation step of (b) comprises forming the firstand second messages using a first format when said communicationsparameter value determines said defined unit T of the fragmented data tobe smaller than the unit corresponding to said trace, and forming thefirst and second messages using a second format different from the firstformat when said communications parameter value determines said definedunit T of the fragmented data to be equal to the unit corresponding tosaid trace.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein said first formatincludes a field that indicates whether a message includes an endingpoint of said trace represented by said stroke object, while said secondformat does not include such field.
 14. The method of claim 12, whereinsaid defined unit T that is smaller than the unit corresponding to saidtrace is selected from a group consisting of: (a) a unit based on one ofthe multiple point objects that form the stroke object, (b) a unit basedon a byte that is smaller than a minimum unit defined by thecommunications protocol, and (c) a unit of time equal to or less than100 msec.
 15. The method of claim 10, further comprising (e) anegotiation step, to be performed prior to the message formation step of(b), the negotiation step of (e) comprising determining a communicationsparameter value, and the transmission step of (c) comprises transmittingthe first message and the one or more second messages using acommunication packet of the defined communications protocol specified bysaid communications parameter value.
 16. The method of claim 15, whereinthe communications parameter value specifies one of a first protocol,which includes a function of detecting loss of the communication packet,and a second protocol, which does not include the function of detectingloss of the communication packet, and the message formation step of (b)comprises switching between generating the first and second messagesusing the first protocol and generating the first and second messagesusing the second protocol, based on said communications parameter value.17. The method of claim 16, wherein the message formation step of (b)comprises, when the second protocol is used, generating each of thefirst and second messages that includes a sequence ID to define an orderof the first and second messages, and when the first protocol is used,generating each of the first and second messages without including asequence ID.
 18. The method of claim 17, further comprising (g) amessage retransmission step of retransmitting a message whose sequenceID is indicated as being lost and its subsequent messages.
 19. Themethod of claim 18, further comprising (h) a drawing area sharing step,to be performed prior to the message formation step of (b), the drawingarea sharing step comprising transmitting latest information regardingthe drawing area.
 20. The method of claim 19, wherein the drawing areasharing step of (h) comprises generating the latest informationregarding the drawing area using a first encoding method, and themessage formation step of (b) comprises generating the first and secondmessages using a second encoding method having a smaller compressionrate than the first encoding method.
 21. The method of claim 20, whereinthe message formation step of (b) further comprises determining a strokeID that uniquely identifies the stroke object that is being generatedamongst multiple stroke objects present within the drawing area, andincluding said stroke ID in at least the first message.
 22. The methodof claim 21, wherein the message formation step of (b) further comprisesincluding a device ID of the transmission device in at least the firstmessage.
 23. The method of claim 19, wherein the message formation stepof (b) further comprises including reproduction timing information,which indicates a time interval at which the fragmented data of thestroke object are to be reproduced by the reception device, in saidstroke object.
 24. The method of claim 19, wherein the ink datageneration step of (a) comprises generating, based on said contextinformation at the beginning point of said trace, variabilityinformation that indicates whether at least one of a width and a colorof said trace varies according to said movement of the pointer, and themessage formation step of (b) comprises including said variabilityinformation in the first message or a first of the one or more secondmessages.
 25. The method of claim 24, wherein said width extendsperpendicularly to a direction of said trace, and said variabilityinformation is a parameter that defines a range of the width in terms ofat least one of a minimum width value and a maximum width value.
 26. Themethod of claim 19, further comprising (i) a sharing step, to beperformed prior to the ink data generation step of (a), the sharing stepof (i) comprising transmitting a set of drawing parameters of saiddrawing style object to the multiple reception devices, and the ink datageneration step of (a) comprises generating the drawing style objectusing an identifier of the set of the drawing parameters.
 27. The methodof claim 26, wherein the set of drawing parameters defines a set ofpen-tip attributes applicable in said drawing area.
 28. The method ofclaim 27, wherein the set of drawing parameters includes drawingresolution information that specifies accuracy of drawing coordinatepositions, and the step of ink data generation of (a) comprisesgenerating drawing coordinate positions for the point objects torepresent said trace using said drawing resolution information.
 29. Themethod of claim 28, wherein the step of ink data generation of (a)comprises scaling a vector from a first pen coordinate position of thepen event data corresponding to said beginning point of said trace to asecond pen coordinate position of the pen event data corresponding to anending point of said trace, using said drawing resolution information.30. The method of claim 29, wherein said sharing step of (i) comprisestransmitting a drawing coordinate position of an origin of the drawingarea, and said ink data generation step of (a) comprises encoding adrawing coordinate position corresponding to said beginning point ofsaid trace relative to said origin.
 31. The method of claim 30, whereinthe sharing step of (i) comprises transmitting multiple sets of drawingparameters of said drawing style object to the multiple receptiondevices, and subsequently transmitting an identifier of a selected oneof the multiple sets of drawing parameters to the multiple receptiondevices.
 32. The method of claim 1, wherein the defined unit T isdefined by an application that uses the ink data.
 33. The method ofclaim 32, wherein when the application uses audio in synchronizationwith the ink data, the defined unit is smaller than a unit correspondingto said trace when the ink data is transmitted with audio.
 34. Themethod of claim 32, wherein when the application is used with arecognition engine that forms the ink data in a unit based on semantics,the defined unit T is greater than a unit corresponding to said trace.35. The method of claim 32, further comprising the step of varying thefrequency with which to include absolute coordinates in the pointobjects, wherein the point objects normally include relativecoordinates, according to a type of protocol to be used fortransmission.
 36. The method of claim 32, further comprising the step ofincluding an absolute value in a beginning point object of each of theone or more second messages and including an absolute value in anon-beginning point object of each of the one or more second messages.